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REMINISCENCES AND LETTERS OF 
GEORGE ARROWSMITH. 



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3C 



^8w«^_^ ^4^?^-^ . 



REMINISCENCES AND LETTERS 



OF 



George Arrowsmith 



OF NEW JERSEY 



LATE LIEUTENANT-COLONEL OF THE ONE HUNDRED 

AND FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK 

STATE VOLUNTEERS 



JOHN a APPLEGATE 






RED BANK', N. J. 
JOHN H. COOK, PUBLISHER 

1S93 






PRESS OF THE REGISTER, 

RED HANK, N. J. 



TO 
ARROWSMITH POST, 

NO; 6 1, DEPARTMENT OF NEW JERSEY, GRAND 

ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, THIS BOOK IS 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



NOTE. 

The immediate occasion of the preparation of 
this work was the acceptance of an invitation to 
address Arrowsmith Post of the Grand Army of 
the Republic upon the subject of "George Ar- 
rowsmith." The task was a pleasant one, as I 
was only discharging a debt due to the memory 
of my friend. Owing to the fact that his mili- 
tary service had been rendered among the troops 
of other States, the Post knew little of his his- 
tory, further than that he was a native of this 
vicinity, a sterling patriot and a gallant soldier. 
I sought, therefore, to produce a record as com- 
plete as it was possible to do with sources of in- 
formation limited by the lapse of time. The 



XIV 

work grew insensibly on my hands, beyond the 
limits of an ordinary discourse, and in a form 
materially abridged I presented it to the Post 
at a public meeting held under its auspices on 
the evening of Decoration Day, 1891. Now, at 
the request of a number of those who were en- 
deared to the soldier for his many excellent 
qualities, and of others, who, though personally 
unacquainted with him, are interested in his 
history as members of the organization that 
bears his name, I have undertaken to publish 
the matter I have collected, intending it as a 
simple memorial of a brave and loyal man. 

J. S. A. 

Red Bank, N. /., December ?t/i, 1893. 



CONTENTS. 



l.-U.E. 



Portrait of George Arrowsmith Frontispiece 

Introductory . . . . . i 

Ancestors ...... 3 

Early Life ...... 7 

College Days . . . . . n 

Law Student and Tutor 22 

His Patriotism Kindled ... 28 

Enrollment as a Soldier . . . 32 

En Route for Washington . . 43 

Battle of Bull Run . . . 52 

Camp and Picket . . . . 61 

The Tented Field ..... 66 

Destruction of a Bridge ... 79 

A Description of Alexandria . 87 

Beautiful Camp Mary ... 92 

A Visit to Mount Vernon ... 97 

Skirmish at Pohich Church . . 102 
A War Camp in Autumn . . .104 

The Chaplain Arrives . . . 114 



A Soldier's Thanksgiving 
Fort Lyon .... 
Along the Rappahannock 
Talks With Prisoners 
Assistant Adjutant-General . 
A Summer Resort Encampment- 
New Duties . . . . 
Cedar Mountain 
Second Bull Run 
Tribute from General Tower 
Lieutenant-Colonel 
A Pl easing Reception 
Washington in 1862 
A Reminiscent Letter 
Personal Incidents . 
Visit to the Twenty-ninth 
Chancel lorsville 
Honor for the 1571H 
The Invasion of the North 
The Battle of Gettysburg 
Death of Arrowsmith . 
Funeral Obsequies 
Tribute from Colonel Place 
Concli SION 
Appendix .... 



PAGE. 


. Il6 


123 


. 127 


137 


• 143 


I46 


• 152 


154 


■ • 156 


l6l 


164 


173 


• 177 


182 


. 186 


. 189 


193 


. I98 


206 


2IO 


214 


227 


229 


. 232 


237 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



" | ^HERE are many heroes in American history 
who have won national fame. There are 
many others whose reputations are more cir- 
cumscribed, but who were just as brave, just as 
patriotic, just as self-sacrificing. The last may 
be counted by the hundreds of thousands who, 
at the call of the President for volunteers, went 
forth from the counting-house, the farm, the 
workshop to engage in deadly strife with the 
enemies of our country. Many were young 
men of rare promise, talented, cultured and 
brave, and who might have attained high na- 
tional distinction in civil or military life, but 



2 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

were cut down in battle at the very threshold of 
their career. As observed by President Lincoln 
in a compliment to the character and intelligence 
of regiments arriving in Washington at the be- 
ginning of the civil war, they contained individ- 
uals quite competent to discharge the functions 
of the highest executive office of the nation. 

I propose to speak of one of these gallant 
heroes, a youth of brilliant promise, cut down in 
the morning of life ; a soldier of this republic, 
who entered the field to die, if need be, for the 
honor of its flag, with no expectation of a return 
to peaceful pursuits until the object of the war 
had been accomplished. 



ANCESTORS. 



/^EORGE ARROWSMITH was born on the 
^-^ eighteenth day of April, 1839, in the part 
of Middletown township (now Holmdel) near 
Harmony meeting-house. He was a descendant 
of a family of Arrowsmiths, settled on Staten 
Island about the year 1683, who were English- 
men, occupying a prominent position in society, 
and had rendered public service, both of a mili- 
tary and judicial character. His father was 
Thomas Arrowsmith, a farmer by occupation, 
who owned a farm on which he resided, and a 
mill, at what was then known as Arrowsmith's 
Mills. He was a man of limited educational ad- 
vantages, but naturally gifted with superior 
mental endowments. His manner was mild and 
his disposition social. He had stored his mind 
with the information of general reading, and 



4 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

thus with the advantage of a retentive memory, 
was an instructive and entertaining conversation- 
alist, as well as a pleasing public speaker. His 
simplicity of character was such that even be- 
yond middle life he found pleasure in the com- 
pany of boys in their teens, and. there are those 
living who, when boys, have spent a pleasant 
hour in his society and profited by his counsel. 
He was quite an effective public speaker. In 
my early law practice I crossed swords with him 
on one occasion before a road tribunal, when he 
spoke in his own behalf, and I found him by 
reason of the high respect he commanded as a 
citizen, supplemented by his persuasive diction 
and adroit manner of presenting his case, a 
dangerous adversary In the village debating 
society — and the village debating society was 
no small factor in our civilization fifty years ago 
— his varied information usually enabled him to 
bear the palm. He enjoyed in a high degree 
the confidence of his fellow citizens. He was a 
veteran of the war of 1812 and a major in the 
State militia. For a number of years he served 
the Township of Middletown as its assessor of 
taxes. In 1835 he was elected a member of the 
legislative counsel of New Jersey, a position cor- 
responding with that of State Senator under the 
constitution of 1844. In this capacity he served 
two years, being succeeded by the late Hon. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

William L. Dayton. In 1843 ne was elected to 
the responsible position of Treasurer of the 
State of New Jersey, holding the office until 
1845. From 1848 until 1850 he was a member 
of the board of Chosen Freeholders for the 
township of Raritan, being the first to represent 
that township on the Board. From February, 
1852, until February, 1858, he was one of the lay 
judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals of 
New Jersey. In all these official positions he 
discharged his duties creditably and acceptably 
to the public, and his integrity was never as- 
sailed. He died December 27th, 1866, at the 
age of seventy-two years. The loss of his son 
was a crushing grief, and like Jacob when he 
refused to be comforted and said " I will go 
down unto the grave unto my son mourning," 
his death followed swiftly. The mother of 
George was Emma VanBrackle, a lady of quiet 
manner, but whose countenance seemed radiant 
with maternal tenderness and affection, and 
whose life was " full of good works and alms 
deeds which she did." She was a daughter of 
Hon. Matthias VanBrackle of Monmouth county, 
a substantial farmer who in 1820 represented his 
district in the State legislature. She survived 
the death of her husband a few years. 

There were born to Thomas and Emma Ar- 
rowsmith nine children. Joseph Edgar Arrow- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

smith, long well known as a leading physician 
of the county, resident at Keyport ; John V. Ar- 
rowsmith, a highly respected citizen, also resi- 
dent at Keyport ; Eleanor, the esteemed wife of 
Daniel Roberts ; Cordelia, a lovely young lady, 
who died at the early age of twenty years ; 
Thomas Arrowsmith, who in the beginning of 
the civil war enlisted in the Eighth Pennsylvania 
cavalry, 'and was subsequently promoted to the 
position of Brigade Quartermaster with the rank 
of Major, serving until the end of the war, and 
who afterwards engaged in teaching; Stephen, 
who died in infancy; Emma, a much beloved 
sister, who is lately deceased; George, the sub- 
ject of this sketch; and Stephen V. Arrowsmith, 
the present principal of the Keyport graded 
school, where he has successfully served the pub- 
lic for fifteen years. 



EARLY LIFE. 



A T the old Harmony school house in the 
vicinity of his home George obtained his 
preliminary educational training. Here he was 
intimately associated as a fellow pupil with 
Major Charles B. Parsons, who was destined to 
become a fellow soldier in the army of the 
Union, and a commander of the Grand Army 
Post bearing his playmate's name. I first met 
George as a schoolmate at the Middletown 
Academy about the year 185 1. Among others 
in our class were Thomas Field, now deceased, 
a young man of much promise ; the Rev. 
Thomas Hanlon, D. D., President of Pennington 
Seminary; the Hon. George C. Beekman, late 
presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas 
and State Senator; and Jacob T. Stout, the en- 
terprising contractor of Atlantic Highlands. At 



8 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

this early age George manifested a military taste. 
Even at a much younger period, as his mother 
used to say, "he was completely carried away 
with anything that pertained to soldiers." A 
pack of schoolboys trooping as wild horses 
would suggest to his mind a charging squadron 
of cavalry; and later, upon the college hill, on a 
quiet Sabbath morn, listening to peals of the 
church bells in the valley below, he would recall 
Napoleon's fondness for such an incident. Head- 
ley's "Washington and his Generals" and "Na- 
poleon and his Marshals," were favorite books. 
His admiration for the fighting qualities and 
dash of Marshals Ney and Murat and Benedict 
Arnold was unbounded, though bitter in his de- 
nunciation of Arnold's treason. His first com- 
position at the Middletown Academy was upon 
the subject of George Washington. It made a 
lasting impression on my mind as a bright pro- 
duction by so young an author. Throughout 
his academic course all his orations and essays, 
so far as I can remember, were upon historical 
subjects or characters. In school he was bright 
and tractable. Out of school he was a leader in 
sport and never offensive to his play fellows. 
Once I saw him angry. An older boy stood be- 
fore him, vexing him with gibes and raillery. He 
stood like a statue, silent and sullen, but occa- 
sionally expressing defiance by throwing a key 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 9 

which hung suspended by a string around his 
neck towards his tormentor's face. It was not 
difficult for his assailant to interpret the action, 
and he wisely suspended his offensive conduct. 

"The charm of his character," said Dr. Lock- 
wood in an obituary address, "was his filial 
obedience. It was a volume of eulogy con- 
densed into one heart utterance, when the aged 
father said to me in words almost choked by 
the sense of his bereavement, 'George was a 
good boy; I never once had occasion to chas- 
tise him.' " 

After a short attendance at school at Middle- 
town Point, he entered the grammar school con- 
nected with Madison University at Hamilton, 
New York, in May, 1854. I was already a stu- 
dent there, and being old schoolmates, we took 
a room together in No. 31, first floor, Western 
Edifice, at the southwesterly entrance. It was 
by far the noisiest room on the Hill, and we 
made it noisier by unmelodious practising upon 
violins, evoking emphatic protests from our 
neighbors, who I fear have never entirely for- 
given us for the many joyless hours we caused 
them. 

In housekeeping we suffered mo adversity 
worse than a holiday spent in exasperating ef- 
forts to put up and connect a line of disjointed 
stove pipe. I might add for the benefit of the 



10 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

curious reader that there were no expressions 
of a profane nature accompanying the work, 
though what we said internally — well, that is 
not legal evidence. 

On another occasion our domestic bliss was 
marred by bitterness and disappointment. We 
bought some pretty paper to decorate the walls 
of our room. To save expense we put it on 
ourselves. It was not artistically done, but it 
was better than bare walls. As the paper be- 
came thoroughly dried, we observed that when- 
ever a fire was started and the room warmed 
up a crackling sound would be heard around the 
borders. Investigation showed it was the paper 
gradually loosening day by day, greatly disturb- 
ing the equanimity of our tempers, until finally 
it was indeed a sorry spectacle, hanging upon 
the wall in rolls and festoons. But there was 
a lesson derived from the experience, which is 
never to paper a whitewashed wall. 



COLLEGE DAYS. 



TN October, 1855, George entered the Fresh- 
man class of Madison University at the age 
of sixteen. He was allotted to the Ionian 
Society, one of the two literary societies then 
existing in the college. Though the youngest 
student, he took and maintained a high rank 
both in class and in literary work. He could 
acquire with little effort and was a sprightly 
and ready writer. Socially he was highly es- 
teemed, and was a general favorite with students 
and townspeople. While his face was not of 
the handsome type, yet he passed as a hand- 
some man. Height, five feet, eleven inches, hair 
black and long, complexion dark, dark hazel 
eyes, a face serious in repose, form erect and 
spare, weight one hundred and forty pounds, 
and a manly bearing, all combined to produce 



12 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

a military figure that would be noticed in a 
crowd. 

He was popular with the ladies and fond of 
ladies' society, though I never knew of his being 
especially devoted to any one, beyond what was 
consistent with a mere friendly partiality. I 
recall a query propounded by a young lady 
student at the Hamilton Female Seminary in the 
reading of her paper at a public meeting of its 
literary society, " Does Arrowsmith manufacture 
Cupid's arrows ? " 

He was possessed of superior musical gifts. 
Throughout his academic course he sang in the 
college choir and glee club. Having a deep 
and melodious bass voice, it was rarely indeed 
that he was not one of a musical party that 
afforded pleasant entertainment in a serenade 
or at an evening concert. He also excelled in 
instrumental music as an amateur performer 
upon the piano, organ, bass viol and violin. In 
college sports he was never a laggard, though 
not an athlete. In his day, athletics were not a 
college specialty as now, and in the absence of 
practice there was little opportunity for devel- 
opment in that line. He was fond of swimming, 
skating and coasting. I recall an incident when 
on a Thanksgiving Day a party of which he was 
one skated down the Chenango canal to Earl- 
ville and back, a distance of twelve miles. The 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 13 

last one to arrive at Earlville was to pay for the 
oysters for the party. The last was a Virginian, 
who enlisted in the war on the Confederate side, 
and was killed in battle at the explosion of the 
mine before Petersburg. 

A coasting incident I have not forgotten. 
Mounting the same sled, we started for break- 
fast to the boarding hall, quarter of a mile 
away. With polished runners, a steep descent 
and smooth ice, we shot down the ravine like 
an arrow. It was impossible to round that 
curve without upsetting, so we headed straight 
down a sloping field. Half way across, with un- 
slackened speed, we struck a ditch concealed 
under the snow. There followed an exhibition 
of stars, infinite in variety, succeeded by a tab- 
leau, suggestive of the " wreck of matter and 
the crush of worlds." 

In college pranks George was a good fol- 
lower, but never a leader. And even as a fol- 
lower he recognized the limits of self-respect. 
If a proposed scheme involved an element of 
dishonor, his ready answer was " No, that will 
be mean ; " but an innocent affair like "ringing 
the rust" or a " mock scheme" for a Junior 
Exhibition or a Young American Celebration of 
the Fourth of July, he entered into with ardor. 

An incident will illustrate the harmless char- 
acter of his college jokes. When the first sub- 



14 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

marine Atlantic cable was laid and messages of 
congratulation had passed between the Presi- 
dent and the Queen, there was a sudden inter- 
ruption of communication. While the people 
were eagerly waiting for the next message, 
which owing to an accident was delayed, George 
overnight printed some placards (he had learned 
to set type in the village printing office) and 
posted them around town, greeting the public 
eye the next morning with the following an- 
nouncement: " Latest by submarine cable ! The 
Duke of Cambridge's cows broke into the 
Queen's garden last night and destroyed her 
cabbages." For about two hours those in the 
secret enjoyed the spectacle of people gathered 
in knots about the streets, discussing the latest 
intelligence from Europe, and the great wonders 
the magnetic telegraph had wrought. 

True to his ancestry, George was a staunch 
Democrat in politics, and though educated in a 
rank Republican town, his political faith was un- 
shaken by his environment. His political activi- 
ties began at the age of seventeen, when he made 
himself quite popular with his party in Hamilton 
as a stump speaker for Buchanan and Brecken- 
ridge. The success of the Democracy in that 
campaign was the occasion of a Democratic fes- 
tival in celebration of the victory, given at the 
Eagle Hotel at Hamilton, on which occasion 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 15 

Arrowsmith was called out and made a speech 
which was received with great favor and specially 
complimented in the next issue of the Democratic 
Union. About this time a letter written to his 
brother Stephen indicates his lively interest in 
the political campaign. " Everything reminds 
me of the old times in Trenton (he lived in Tren- 
ton, N. J., while his father was State Treasurer 
from 1843 to 1845) when I used to get 'licked' 
so by the Whig boys of Mr. Minses's school. 
There is a Buchanan club in the village and I 
frequently go to their room to read the papers ; 
but I wish you would send me the Washington 
Union every week. That will be easier than to 
write a letter and I will take it as a propitious 
omen that you are all well. It will be quite a 
curiosity here where abolitionism and black re- 
publicanism run rampant." In the same year, 
1856, George was an occasional writer for the 
newspapers of his own county. In the issue 
of the New Jersey Standard of May ist, 1856, 
there appears an article written by him entitled 
"Cromwell and Bonaparte," and signed " Scrip- 
tor." It evidences the remarkable maturity of 
his intellect at the period of his seventeenth 
birthday. 

In the Ionian Literary Society George took 
a high rank as a writer and orator, and all its 
principal honors were bestowed upon him. He 



16 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

filled successively the offices of Critic, Vice Pres- 
ident and President. At its public meeting in 
his senior year he delivered the valedictory ora- 
tion. The following complimentary notice of 
one of his orations before a public meeting of 
the society appeared in the Hamilton Republican : 

" The next oration, Subject : ' Excess of Polit- 
ical Freedom,' reflected high honor upon the 
genius of its composer. In the production of 
this speech, Mr. Arrowsmith not only honored 
himself with the reputation of one of the best 
writers in the University, but manifested ability 
as an orator that will confidently defy competi- 
tion. The grace of his style, the easy flow of 
his expressive diction, the palmy fulness of his 
periods, combined with the spicy, piquant 
quaintness of humor that so appropriately and 
unostensibly insinuated itself in the composition, 
lent a telling effect to his effort. Mr. Arrow- 
smith is destined to leave his own mark on the 
political future of his country." 

It used to be a custom in Hamilton for the 
youths of the village to celebrate the Fourth of 
July by a ceremony distinctively Young Ameri- 
can. After a parade on horseback by a hundred 
or more young men fantastically dressed and 
masked, they would draw up in the park 
around a platform to listen to speeches. Among 
the pleasant reminiscences of my college life 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 17 

was an occasion in 1857 when George was a 
participant in a celebration of this character and 
one of the orators of the day. His personality- 
disguised, his argument was in keeping with his 
appearance, very grotesque. Referring to the 
question of prohibition, he suggested three 
methods of reform. The first, which he thought 
would be popular with the reformers, was for 
they themselves to drink up all the liquor, so 
that none would be left for the anti-reformers. 
The second was to petition the legislature to 
pass a law forbidding the use of intoxicating 
beverages by every citizen, excepting members 
of the legislature. Such a bill, he thought 
would be popular with the members of the 
legislature and sure to pass. The third was a 
gradual reduction of the strength of liquors by 
dilution with water until it came to be adminis- 
tered in such homoeopathic doses that it could 
do no mischief. The last was sure to be popular 
with the whiskey venders. The question of 
slavery, then the exciting topic of the country, 
also received his attention. "Are we all," he 
said, " to be made nigger slaves to the South ? 
Is that old monster slavery to rear its black and 
grizzly form over the fair North and vomit up 
pollution over the verdant hills and people of 
New York ? No ! Let us rather say in the lan- 
guage of the immortal Webster in reply to De- 



18 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

mosthenes — Liberty and Death — Henry Ward 
Beecher forever — Sharp's rifles, inevitable and 
let her burn — I repeat it, sir — let her burn. 
Fellow citizens, my feelings overcome me when 
I touch upon such a subject. When I see re- 
publicanism trodden under foot and scorned — 
the pathfinder of freedom and salt river defeated 
in a National election, I am prompted to seize 
the American Eagle by the tail feathers and 
twist him round the head of the Government 
until by the flapping of his wings there is not a 
quill left large enough to make a pen for a 
pettifogging lawyer." 

There is more, but this will do to show that 
as a boy of eighteen, he was not a sleepy one. 

The Mu chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon 
Fraternity of Madison University was organized 
in 1856. Arrowsmith was one of its founders. 
It had existed hardly two years when the faculty 
determined to uproot it, upon the ground that 
the existence of a Greek letter society in the 
college was inimical to its prosperity. About 
one-half of its members promptly yielded to the 
pressure of the faculty and withdrew from the 
society. The remainder by standing firmer 
succeeded in effecting a compromise and saving 
the chapter. Arrowsmith was one of the latter. 
His loyalty to the fraternity was intense. He 
clung to its memory while he lived and died in 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 19 

baitle wearing its emblem near his heart. It 
may be of interest to add that the Delta Kappa 
Epsilon Fraternity is no longer proscribed at 
Madison (now Colgate), but flourishes with the 
favor of the college authorities. Tempora mu- 
tant it r, etc. 

In his Junior year he became a subject of the 
Divine grace and united with the Hamilton 
Baptist Church. He had always yielded a 
reverential attention to religious matters. Be- 
fore his conversion he would welcome to his 
room the class prayer meeting, and would open 
the exercises by reading a chapter from the 
Bible. u The fact of his conversion," said Dr. 
Lockwood at his funeral, "he communicated to 
his parents in a way so joyous and artless as 
showed that he had become really a child of the 
Kingdom of God. As near as I can remember 
his words addressed first to his mother are: 
'Dear Mother, I am going to bed, but first I 
must sit down to write you some good news. I 
trust I have found the Saviour. O, what a 
change ! Dear Father, I feel now that I have a 
great Friend above who will help me to carry 
out your good advice to me.' " Fully three years 
afterward in a letter addressed to his brother, 
referring to the conversion of the latter, " Be as- 
sured," he says, " that the intelligence was very 
gratifying to me. One thing is certain, you have 



20 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

never done a nobler or more important thing in 
your life than that which you mention, transact- 
ing business for eternity. Your determination 
has greatly pleased me as it will all your true 
friends. Your step, as you say, ought not to 
deprive you of any real pleasure. Who in the 
world has more reason to be happy than he who 
has a friend in the all-powerful and ever-present 
Being who rules the world ? The Christian is 
the only person in the world who may be said 
really to fear nothing." 

In the year 1858, after the destruction by in- 
cendiaries of the Quarantine Hospital on Staten 
Island, there was a strong public sentiment 
manifested by the New York press in favor of 
reestablishing the hospital on the Jersey shore at 
Sandy Hook. This stirred up an indignant op- 
position in New Jersey, and especially in Mon- 
mouth County, whose rich and fertile lands and 
prosperous summer resorts would be seriously 
prejudiced by the location of a pest-house upon 
its shores. George's pen was active in denuncia- 
tion of the scheme, furnishing articles which ap- 
peared in the New York Times and the Trenton 
True American. These articles were copied and 
circulated widely throughout the State and were 
regarded with much favor as a clear and effective 
presentation of the case from New Jersey's 
standpoint. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 21 

George was graduated in the class of 1859 at 
the age of twenty years. The Republican in its 
account of the Commencement exercises thus 
commented upon his Commencement oration: 

" Mr. George Arrowsmith was the next speaker 
and with the deliberation and ease seldom ob- 
servable on Commencement occasions, proceeded 
to discuss in eloquent and perspicuous language, 
the popular subject, ' National Institutions.' 
For racy and unique style, terse and vigorous 
thought, and finish of illustration, this oration 
was a superior production, and Mr. Arrowsrnith's 
effort was a triumphant one, excelled by none of 
the day, and won for him many laurels, as well 
as a shower of bouquets thrown to him on retir- 
ing from the stage." 

Among his classmates whom I now recall were 
Hon. Enos Clarke, Henry A. Cordo, D.D., Way- 
land Hoyt, D.D., Hon. William A. Lewis, Egbert 
R. Middlebrook, Esq., Daniel E. Pope, Esq., 
Thomas Edgar Stillman, Esq., and George M. 
Stone, D.D. 



LAW STUDENT AND TUTOR. 



TOURING his college life he was frequently 
*^ disturbed by the thought that he was en- 
joying comparatively an easy life, spending the 
money which his brother and father at home 
were working hard to earn; and in letters to his 
brother he referred to it occasionally, expressing 
a wish that he too could be making a living. 
He intended at the close of his collegiate course 
to study law. This he saw would involve further 
expense to his father. Moved by these con- 
siderations, he conceived the idea of teaching in 
Hamilton, in conjunction with the pursuit of his 
legal studies. Accordingly, on June 19th, 1859, 
he wrote his father from Hamilton that the 
position of tutor in the Grammar School had 
been tendered him by an almost unanimous vote 
of the faculty, announcing his disposition to 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 23 

accept it and his reasons, and asking his father's 
views and advice upon the subject. P. P. 
Brown, Jr., the principal of the Grammar School 
connected with the University, a warm friend, 
wrote to his father about the same time stating: 
" It gives me great pleasure to announce to you 
that the faculty of the University with great 
cordiality, unanimously voted to-day to recom- 
mend your son George to the board of the Uni- 
versity, to be appointed assistant teacher in the 
Grammar School, commencing in October with 
the next academic year. The different members 
of the faculty expressed themselves as highly 
pleased with his scholarship and manly deport- 
ment and had no doubt of his success in his new 
position." 

George accepted the position tendered him and 
in October, 1859, entered upon his duties. At 
the same time he entered the law office of Hon. 
Charles Mason, a Judge of the Supreme Court, 
and the leading lawyer of Madison County, 
under whose direction he pursued his legal 
studies. Thus is explained how he came to 
study law and afterwards to be admitted to the 
bar in New York rather than in New Jersey, 
the State of his nativity, where his success could 
have been promoted by the aid of influential 
relatives and friends. It was a matter of con- 
venience rather than choice, for he was a Jersey- 



24 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

man at heart, though he had formed many strong 
friendships and pleasant associations in the place 
of his adopted home. Two years later in a 
letter addressed to the writer, who was then a 
law student in Trenton, New Jersey, after ex- 
pressing regrets that he too could not be study- 
ing in the same State, he says, " but my divinity 
that shapes my end has seemed to decree other- 
wise ; " and again he says in the same letter, " I 
do wish I could come to Trenton, and if it were 
not for losing all I have done in this State I 
should think about it." 

For three or four years before his enlistment 
he was a frequent contributor to the Union, a 
Democratic paper of Hamilton, furnishing many 
spicy and incisive articles of a partisan nature. 
This led to a personal difficulty in March, i860, 
with the editor of the opposition paper, who was 
Thomas L. James, afterwards Postmaster of New 
York, and later Postmaster-General in the cabi- 
net of President Garfield. Malevolence, how- 
ever, could find no place in the heart of either. 
Forgiveness quickly interceded and amicable re- 
lations were restored. 

About the year i860 or '61, a road contro- 
versy occurred between George's father, Major 
Arrowsmith, and some of his neighbors, in 
which an altercation arose between George and 
Henry S. Little, Esq., the lawyer for the appli- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 25 

cants. It has been reported that George on 
this occasion actually assaulted Mr. Little, 
which is not true. As the affair excited much 
interest, and erroneous impressions still prevail 
as to how far George lost the control of his 
temper on this occasion, Senator Little at my 
request furnished me with an account of it as 
follows : 

" Your request for information in regard to 
the road case in which George Arrowsmith and 
I had some altercation is before me. So many 
incidents had escaped me that I delayed answer- 
ing you until I could see Senator Hendrickson, 
who was one of my clients in the matter. Yes- 
terday I dined with him and refreshed my mem- 
ory by his. He and the Major were close friends, 
politically and otherwise. In this case they were 
wide apart, as were many farmers on the line of 
the new road. The road ended in the Middle- 
town and Keyport road, I believe, near the mill, 
and was the continuation of a road that extended 
up through the Senator's property, and enabled 
the farmers in that section to go down to the 
shore for fish and other purposes, and went shy 
of the Major's mill. He opposed it with his ac- 
customed skill and, as you know, was a most 
formidable adversary. At that time road cases 
were fought under a black flag, no quarter 
being given or asked. The Major had many 



26 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

roads that converged to his mill — this one did 
not ; and posted by the Senator and others, I 
made a hot fight, doubtless said things exasper- 
ating enough to stir as cool a man as the Major, 
and more than enough to anger his young and 
gallant son. We must have had a good case for 
the surveyors laid the road. This finally mad- 
dened George and he violently denounced me, 
and probably but for the interference of his 
friends would have assaulted me. I never 
blamed him ; on the contrary, respected him all 
the more for defending his old father. I have 
no doubt I was in fault for not using more mod- 
eration. After there was time for cooling we 
were just as good friends as before. That was 
saying not a little, for I was a warm admirer of 
his. His patriotism had stood as mine had 
against adverse surrounding influences. You 
may remember the peace meeting that well nigh 
led to bloodshed at Middletown. Most of the 
Democrats of influence had signed a call for a 
meeting to denounce the administration and 
declare for peace. I refused to sign it and so 
far as it could be done was read out of the 
party. So you see there was a bond of union 
between us. I do not know after writing so 
much that I have aided you in the slightest to 
anything that may be useful." 

Senator Little, holding the affirmative of the 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 27 

case, had the right of reply. As he says, he 
doubtless said things exasperating enough — a 
statement no one will controvert who is at all 
familiar with Mr. Little's sarcasm and the free- 
dom with which he was wont to use it. When 
he had finished, George arose to reply. Mr. Lit- 
tle objected. This application of the " gag law," 
as George considered it, is probably what stirred 
his anger more than anything else, and led to 
the violent denunciation of his opponent. As 
his most intimate friends know, George was 
possessed of a tranquil demeanor not easily dis- 
turbed. The circumstances mentioned only 
show that he could be aggressively impetuous 
for cause. It was not a weakness. On the bat- 
tle field a like impetuosity of temperament won 
for him the appellation of the "Young Lion." 

Senator Little's reference to the famous or in- 
famous Middletown peace meeting recalls vivid- 
ly the distinction between the two kinds of 
Democrats of those times. One carried the flag 
and kept step to the music of the Union. The 
other was quite indifferent to both flag and 
Union, and loyal only to party. George was of 
the former class, as subsequent pages will illus- 
trate. 



HIS PATRIOTISM KINDLED. 



T N April, 1861, George passed his legal exam- 
ination and was duly licensed as a member 
of the New York bar. About this time occurred 
the assault on Fort Sumter. Excited crowds 
of citizens nightly gathered around the village 
post-office, impatiently awaiting the distribution 
of the mails with the latest news from Charles- 
ton Harbor. On one of these occasions a rebel 
sympathizer, hearing the announcement that the 
National flag was actually assaulted, suffered 
his enthusiasm to elope with his judgment by 
an open avowal of a wish that the South might 
succeed, adding that he for one was ready to 
fight with them. George was present, and in- 
stantly mounting a box, called for the man who 
had uttered the treasonable sentiment, demand- 
ng a retraction. A retraction not forthcoming, 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 29 

he denounced him as a vile traitor in terms of 
bitter wrath and indignation until the man 
quailed under his fiery invective and slunk out 
of view. "No man," he said, "could insult the 
national emblem in his presence without his in- 
dignant protest." His patriotism kindling as 
he proceeded, he proclaimed he was willing 
then and there to enlist as a soldier in the Union 
cause, and appealing to the crowd he asked, 
" How many will go with me ? " There were 
numerous responses. In a few hours fifty men 
had signed the muster-roll. On Monday, April 
29th, these assembled at their rendezvous, and 
organizing under the name of the Union 
Guards, unanimously selected George Arrow- 
smith as their Captain. The Republican of Ham- 
ilton, in a magnanimous spirit, forgetting past 
differences, commended the selection in the fol- 
lowing generous terms of approval : "The ex- 
cellence of the selection is not to be disputed. 
Captain Arrowsmith is a young man of high 
character and fine abilities. He will be every 
inch a soldier, as he is a scholar, and if the op- 
portunity offers, the Hamilton Volunteers under 
his lead will attain all the honor and glory to 
which, we are led to believe, their aspirations 
reach." 

They prepared at once for their departure to 
Utica to join Colonel Christian's regiment, then 



30 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

forming. It was a solemn day for Hamilton. 
Business was entirely suspended. The weather 
was delightful, and the village was thronged 
with people. There were many aching hearts 
and tearful eyes. Fifty of the noblest, bravest 
and best young men of Hamilton leaving their 
homes and kindred to confront the dangers of 
war ! At eleven o'clock the procession formed 
under the direction of three leading citizens of 
the town, acting as Marshals. These were 
Lieutenant Colonel H. G. Beardsley, Senator 
John J. Foote and James Putman. The order 
was as follows : First, Band ; second, Volun- 
teers, under command of Captain George Arrow- 
smith ; third, Clergy and Professors of Madison 
University; fourth, Ladies ; fifth, Citizens. 
After parading the principal streets, they assem- 
bled in front of the hotel, where a fervent and 
affecting prayer was offered by the Rev. W. A. 
Brooks, after which, on behalf of the ladies of 
Hamilton, David J. Mitchell, Esq , an eminent 
lawyer then of Syracuse, but formerly of Ham- 
ilton, who had done great service by his war 
speeches in arousing the public enthusiasm, pre- 
sented the company with a beautiful silk banner 
in a stirring and eloquent speech, which was re- 
sponded to by Captain Arrowsmith with due 
acknowledgments for himself and company. 
After a presentation to Captain Arrowsmith of 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 31 

an elegant revolver and a like presentation to 
two other officers, by different citizens, the vol- 
unteers entered vehicles, and "amidst a perfect 
tempest of cheers and waving of handkerchiefs," 
started for Utica. The report of the occasion 
says there were uttered many a " God speed 
you," and many a tear trickled down the cheeks 
of those who had loved ones among the patriots, 
as thev moved away. 



ENROLLMENT AS A SOLDIER. 

'THE journey of twenty-nine miles was a 
series of ovations. Arriving at Utica they 
were quartered in the City Hall, where they 
partook of a supper provided for them. The 
next morning they were sworn in, and being 
now enrolled, they proceeded to the election of 
officers, George Arrowsmith being chosen Cap- 
tain as at the informal election of the day be- 
fore. The company was soon filled up to the 
requisite number of men and joined the Twenty 
sixth Regiment, New York Volunteers, recruited 
in the vicinity of Utica, and received the desig- 
nation of Company D. The regiment proceeded 
to the military post at Elmira, where it remained 
two months in barracks, and improved its time 
in drilling and parading. 

Shortly after the arrival of the regiment at 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 33 

Elmira, Captain Arrowsmith addressed the 
ladies of Hamilton the following letter, acknowl- 
edging in grateful terms the receipt of their 
gifts, consisting of four barrels of numerous 
luxuries in the form of eatables and clothing : 

Elmira, N. Y., May 17th, 1861. 

To the Ladies of Hamilton : 

Your gift was received yesterday, and received 
with a good round of cheers, I assure you. Just 
previous to their arrival, we received the kind 
letter which you sent us, and I read it to the 
company assembled around the stove in the 
rough barracks, eager to hear anything from 
those at home whose sympathy they are con- 
fident of participating in. 

In three or four instances since we left Hamil- 
ton, have we found it necessary to throw to the 
breeze the beautiful banner which you presented 
us, to keep the company together. Your letter, 
followed so closely by four barrels full of solid 
"sympathy," will do more to keep the peace 
and preserve order for three or four days, than 
so many barrels of "army regulations " would. 
The butter and shirts were acceptable especially. 
" The rations " do not include butter, and the 
latter on account of the delay of the military 
departments in getting our uniforms, were ab- 



34 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

solutely indispensable. The cakes are con- 
sidered to be luxuries which are not to be lightly 
spoken of by anybody. But we value the moral 
influence of your gift still more highly than its 
tangible effects. 

Immediately after your letter was read and 
duly " cheered and tigered " (by the way, the 
cakes have since been " tigered," though they 
were cheered on their arrival) I was deputized 
to write a letter thanking the ladies of Hamilton, 
on the part of the company. By this imperfect 
note I have endeavored to comply with their re- 
quest, at the same time feeling as I write, ex- 
ceedingly thankful, for a certain large cake 
which has been received, and solemnly disposed 
of by the captain of the aforesaid company. 

Ladies of Hamilton, accept our thanks. You 
will not be forgotten by us, and we hope still in 
the future to occupy a niche in your memory. 
George Arrowsmith, 

/;/ behalf of Company D. 

Afterwards the Hamilton ladies formed them- 
selves into an organization for the purpose of 
providing comforts for the volunteers enlisted 
from their village and the vicinity.* 

Before leaving for the war, Dr. Eaton, the 

* Appendix, Note B. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 35 

President of Madison University, wrote and 
gave to George the following letter of com- 
mendation which he no doubt thought might 
serve him usefully in the South, where the 
doctor had many acquaintances, in the event 
of his capture by the enemy. It was like Dr. 
Eaton, whose heart was always full of kind 
promptings, to be thus thoughtful : 

Madison University, April 24, 1861. 

The bearer, Mr. George Arrowsmith, graduated 
from Madison University in the class of '59, and 
discharged the office of tutor during the follow- 
ing year, as an assistant to Professor Brown, 
Principal of the Grammar School of the Uni- 
versity. 

Mr. Arrowsmith held a high rank in his class 
as a young gentleman of marked ability, fine 
scholarship and correct deportment. He dis- 
charged the duties of tutor in a manner highly 
satisfactory to the faculty and to the students 
who enjoyed his instructions. It is therefore, 
but simple justice to Mr. Arrowsmith to com- 
mend him, as I do, most cordially to the respect 
and confidence of the wise and good everywhere 
and to the public generally. 

George W. Eaton, 

President of Madison University. 



36 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Captain Arrowsmith found his duties as com- 
mandant too engrossing to afford time to corre- 
spond with all his friends individually, and to 
make one letter answer for many he sent a com- 
munication to the Utica Herald irom time to time 
over the signature of Aliquis. These letters are 
interesting as a part of the history of his regi- 
ment and of his army life. Under date of June 
9th, 1861, he writes from the Elmira Barracks 
as follows : 

Elmira, Barracks No. 3, June 9, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

Since my last letter the regiment has been 
unusually busy in drilling and parading, and 
also unusually zealous in view of so m being or- 
dered off. On Thursday afternoon we received 
intelligence that a party of Uticans, with the 
colors, were on their way to Elmira. This was 
very welcome news, I assure you. On Friday 
morning squads of men from the companies 
scattered in all directions to bring in evergreens 
and bouquets to decorate the barracks, in which 
work there was quite a spirit of emulation. In 
an hour or two the appearance of the camp was 
wonderfully changed. Rows of cedar trees sud- 
denly appeared before the barracks, the flag- 
staffs O'namented with wreaths and bouquets, 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 37 

and all sorts of mottoes and decorations were 
fixed on the neighboring buildings — some of the 
men solemnly declared " it was a regular Fourth 
of July." At eleven o'clock the regiment was 
drawn into line for the presentation of colors, 
which were soon exposed to view amid a mur- 
mur of admiration. Judge Smith, of Oneida 
County, made the presentation speech, which 
was characterized by his usual ability and vi- 
vacity. It was heard in silence by the immense 
crowd of spectators who on foot and in carriages 
were pressing around the lines. Colonel Chris- 
tian received the colors before the regiment, and 
replied with military brevity — the few words 
with which he intrusted to them that flag will 
not soon be forgotten by the regiment. A very 
large crowd of citizens, townsmen and towns- 
women, as 1 before said, witnessed the presenta- 
tion of the flag, and the troops were gratified to 
notice that the Female College for the first time 
had come in procession upon its grounds to wit- 
ness the parade. 

The colors were presented by Mr. William H. 
Lewis of your city, whose arrival in town was 
a source of great joy among his numerous 
friends in the regiment. Mr. Lewis and Judge 
Smith have been " lionized " among the men 
ever since the ceremony. Aftrr the presenta- 
tion the whole regiment marched to the resi- 



38 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

dence of Mrs. Maxwell, at whose commodious 
mansion the Colonel has his rooms, and the 
colors were there left while the procession 
returned. I cannot, by the way, mention the 
name of Mrs. Maxwell without also mention- 
ing that she has proved herself, ever since 
we have been here, a true friend to the regi- 
ment, and never has the private or officer 
been turned from her door when she could fur- 
nish anything to supply his wants or suit his 
convenience. 

On Friday afternoon also we received our ac- 
coutrements, canteens, knapsacks, haversacks, 
belts, ammunition boxes, tents, camp kettles, 
which gave the camp an appearance still more 
military — but still no caps or underclothes ! 
What culpable delay ! The day closed with a 
parade down through the town accompanied by 
our Utica friends. 

There never has been a better feeling in the 
regiment since its stay at Elmira than there is 
at present. There is a crowd of spectators 
every afternoon to witness our battalion drills — 
this afternoon several hundred. Our Utica 
friends, ladies and all, have been on the grounds 
a great part of the time since they arrived, 
and yesterday Mr. Long got them up a din- 
ner for all in the officers' mess room. I took 
a little pains to notice the kind of fare which 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 39 

he provided, and found it as follows : Beef 
soup, roast beef, boiled beef, mashed potatoes, 
pickled tongue, rice pudding, French "co- 
quettes," with tea and the usual fixings. Mr. 
Long did not at all give them an opportunity to 
test " the hardships of camp life." 

To-morrow morning we suppose most of our 
guests will start for Utica. 

Still waiting for orders ! Aliquis. 

Before the Twenty-sixth Regiment had left 
Elmira, Arrowsmith acquired an enviable repu- 
tation as an officer. A visitor to the camp 
writes under date of June nth, 1861, that he 
found Captain Arrowsmith and his Company 
pleasantly situated. "The Captain," he states, 
" is highly spoken of by his fellow-officers, and is 
an especial favorite of those in superior com- 
mand. His company is looking as well and is 
under as good drill as any in the regiment. 
Colonel Christian says there is no better officer 
in the regiment." 

The day before leaving Elmira for Washing- 
ton George writes as follows : 

Elmira, Barracks No. 3, June 19, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

I trust I am now writing my last letter from 
Elmira. It is stale news to you, probably, th a 



40 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

last Friday it was announced by the Colonel 
that we were to march to Washington yester- 
day. Those who were sick at heart from "hope 
long deferred," suddenly brightened up, but 
those who had the measles and mumps, and 
such unromantic and unwarlike diseases, did 
not recover so easily. So for this reason, and 
because we would have to go in freight cars on 
Tuesday, we deferred our departure until next 
Friday. 

When the above announcement was made to 
the regiment in line, there followed the wildest 
and most picturesque scene that I ever wit- 
nessed. As if in accordance with a premeditat- 
ed plan, the men immediately hung their caps 
on their bayonets and broke into companies, 
which marched around the grounds in all direc- 
tions, amid the wildest screaming and huzzas. 
This intelligence has also had the effect to sepa- 
rate the chaff from the wheat, and there have 
been some, but very few, desertions. Many 
have absented themselves from duty, but have 
returned after seeing their friends, or transact- 
ing such important business as visiting wives, 
etc. Last Sunday night the men were unusually 
uneas} 7 , and just before dark fourteen of them, 
with their side arms, ran the guard at once, and 
were pursued by several of the picket guard. 
After dark the report came to the camp that 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 41 

they were pursued by the guard in a large wood, 
but refused to be taken. The Colonel immedi- 
ately despatched a captain and twenty men to 
bring them in, who duly tore their clothes, tum- 
bled over rocks, and fell in the mud in the 
search, with military promptness, but in vain. 
When the captain wished to collect them to re- 
turn home, several shots were fired as signals, 
which had the effect to bring out the surgeons 
toward the forest with the grim prospect of hav- 
ing some fine subjects. Such are some of the in- 
cidents of the camp. The fourteen delinquents, 
however, have all been taken or have returned. 

For the last week the regiment has used as a 
drilling ground a large field above the barracks, 
where there is ample space for all battalion 
movements, and I assure you drilling has been 
carried on as much as the physical powers of 
soldiers could sanction. The men take an 
especial interest in street firing, with a view to 
Baltimore, I expect, for it is now well settled 
that we are to start on Friday morning, with 
three days' provisions and fifteen thousand 
rounds of cartridges. Our caps and shoes are 
now all provided, and the former make a great 
improvement in the appearance of the regiment. 
To-night they made a second parade down the 
town and were lustily applauded by the other 
regiments as they passed their barracks. One 



42 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

of the evening papers in town contains the fol- 
lowing paragraph : 

" This afternoon Colonel Christian, of the 
Twenty-sixth Regiment, was unexpectedly pre- 
sented with a splendid charger by Mr, W. H. 
Lewis, on the part of the citizens of Utica. The 
presentation was made suddenly and with but 
little ceremony, but the soldiers gave three hearty 
cheers as the Colonel mounted the horse and rode 
along the lines. A good present well bestowed." 

Both officers and men in this regiment feel 
very grateful to the ladies of Utica and vicinity 
for the interest they have taken in our welfare, 
displayed as it has been, in the liberal donations 
which we have received. You cannot imagine 
the moral effect, aside from the substantial bene- 
fit, of the boxes of clothing which your Utica 
ladies have from time to time sent to us. Im- 
posed upon by clothing contractors, and really 
neglected by the Stare government, our pay 
delayed on account of Albany technicalities, 
these donations have often revived the droop- 
ing spirits of the men — the mere idea that some 
one was interested in them. The ladies of Utica 
will long be remembered with pleasure by the 
Twenty-sixth Regiment. 

To-morrow we are ordered to pack up and 
have everything in readiness to move. 

Aliouis. 



EN ROUTE FOR WASHINGTON, 



/^N Thursday, June 20th, the regiment start- 
^^ ed for Washington. The following letter 
is descriptive of the trip : 

Meridian Heights, Washington, ) 
June 27th, 1861. j 

To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

Excuse my tardiness in writing, but the con- 
fusion consequent upon our moving from El- 
mira and the inconveniences of camp life have 
hitherto discouraged me. However, I have now 
reconciled myself to circumstances, and am sit- 
ting on the ground, writing on a box of car- 
tridges with a dull lead pencil. 

Our trip from Elmira was very pleasant in 
the main, though as we got more and more 
toward the South we began to find some pretty 



44 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

warm weather. We started with nineteen cars 
and two locomotives, and did not change trains 
until we arrived at Baltimore. At Williamsport 
the regiment received a fine ovation, were pa- 
raded through the streets, entertained by the 
ladies in the finest picnic style — that reminded us 
all of the old Sabbath-school celebrations ere 
our country had let slip the dogs of war — every 
man received a cigar after the collation, and 
amid loud cheering the heavy train bearing the 
regiment slowly moved from the town. It ap- 
peared as though every inhabitant in the town 
was down at the depot to see us off, and thus all 
along the road did the best of feeling seem to 
be manifested towards the volunteers. We rode 
all night, made no stop at Harrisburg, and in 
the gray of the morning passed a guide board 
with " The State Line " upon it. Then did your 
correspondent cautiously protrude his head 
from the car window, realizing that he was now 
" down South " — saw no vile secessionist aiming 
at it — became very bold and cried "hurrah !" — 
saw no man that looked like Jefferson Davis's 
portrait, so I did not fire my musket ; pickets 
all along the road to Baltimore, encamped 
along beautiful streams, guarding the bridges 
and whiling away the long summer days in 
shooting at a target. 

The scenery along the road from Harrisburg 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 45 

to Baltimore is very picturesque, and the trip 
was thus rendered quite pleasant and interest- 
ing. No secession flags were seen, but we were 
greeted with Union demonstrations as we passed 
along. Finally we arrive at Baltimore, after 
loading at the last station. There are crowds 
of people along the streets, but with the excep- 
tion of a few dubious remarks and hisses, there 
are no symptoms of disturbance. The troops 
march through in grim silence, replying to no 
question, and not allowed to receive refresh- 
ments or water from the crowd, though in the 
broiling sun. Two or three that drank water 
proffered by men in the crowd were afterwards 
very sick and afflicted with sore mouths, and 
it is thought their abstaining from Baltimore 
water was very fortunate. The inhabitants that 
followed us to the depot, however, seemed to be 
all true to the Union. Our stay in Baltimore 
was very short, for the Washington train started 
as soon as the regiment got on board. We ar- 
rived in Washington, having passed on our way 
several camps and the celebrated Relay House. 
By the time we arrived at the station near the 
Capitol, we were considerably worn out, having 
had little or no sleep in the cars the night be- 
fore, and having exhausted most of the two 
days' provisions which we took from Elmi-a. 
The men now saw their error in packing so 



46 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

many articles in their knapsacks, for I assure 
you every pound counted in the oppressive heat 
and the broiling sun of Washington. On alight- 
ing from the train we found we had to march to 
Meridian Heights, a hill about three miles from 
the city. Some of the men fainted and fell out 
on the march up, overcome with heat and fa- 
tigue, but the men from the camps which we 
passed on the way up encouraged the boys, 
helped them carry their muskets and baggage, 
and in various ways expressed the sympathy of 
brother soldiers. The men have recovered from 
this fatigue, and are healthier on the whole than 
they were in Elmira. The night we arrived our 
tents had to be erected, and as it was getting 
late, many slept in the open air — but we were 
sufficiently fatigued to sleep almost anywhere. 

Our ground, called Camp VanValkenburgh, is 
finely suited for parading purposes, but is badly 
supplied with water. All the wells around here 
which we use are constantly guarded, as some 
have been poisoned by the Virginians. 

We are now drawing our rations, but in the 
confusion attendant upon getting this military 
machinery fairly at work we frequently take 
some long fasts, just long enough to make us 
relish the pork, bread and coffee when we get 
it. We are, however, getting along better and 
better every day. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 4. 

In our tents we of course sleep generally on 
the "ground floor," with knapsacks, valises or 
stumps for pillows, and happy are they who 
have waterproof blankets to lie upon. Our 
tents are rather scarce and rather small, and not 
infrequently we see feet and legs protruding 
from under the canvas, which, in case of a 
shower are vigorously hauled in. In lack of the 
usual conveniences, bayonets serve for forks and 
candlesticks, brush houses for kitchens, have- 
locks for handkerchiefs, ammunition boxes for 
seats and tables ; while at times there are vague 
rumors that shoes and boots will have to be 
used to make soup and jerked beef of. It is a 
novel life, but we have every confidence that our 
Quartermaster will make it as agreeable as pos- 
sible. 

Our captains are to-day engaged in making 
out our new pay rolls, and we understand that 
they will be immediately responded to. We are 
also encouraged to hear that we are sure to be 
newly uniformed and armed in a few days. 

We have been alarmed and under arms twice 
already. Last Friday night a sentinel of the 
Thirty-eighth, New York Volunteers, fired his 
piece, and ten of our regiments were instantly 
drawn in line of battle. A company of flying 
artillery also started from the city. Last night, 
also, some cannonading along the river orca- 



48 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

sioned a "long roll" in all quarters, and all the 
regiments in the vicinity were under arms. In 
neither case was there any occasion for the 
alarm, but scouting parties of the federal regi- 
ments frequently run into the pickets of their 
own friends and occasion a general alarm, but 
nevertheless we are obliged to hold ourselves in 
readiness for action. Right on our flank lies 
the Thirty-eighth ; in a field about two hun- 
dred yards from us lies the Eighteenth, and just 
beyond them in a large grove is the Fourteenth, 
and a number of other New York regiments 
scattered all around in the vicinity. 

I cannot, like a regular Washington corre- 
spondent, tell all about the strange sights, for 
I've had no chance to see anything but the out- 
side of the Capitol as yet — at present I'd like to 
see a good, comfortable hotel. 

Aliquis. 

Occasionally Captain Arrowsmith found op- 
portunity to run up to the city of Washington. 
The capital was a new place to him and he saw 
much to interest him, especially in the way of 
politicians and other celebrities. " Here," says 
Eli Perkins, " he made my room his head- 
quarters where on my return I frequently found 
him installed with a bevy of officers. You know 
George did love a good story with a fine point. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 49 

How he used to read Artemus Ward to me !" 
On his return from Washington he writes his 
brother under date of July 8th, 1861: 

" In the reading rooms of Willard's Hotel I find 
a great deal to interest me. I saw there last 
night J. C. Breckenridge, N. P. Willis, Secretary 
Cameron, Thurlow Weed, Colonel Bartlett, 
Donnelly, of Wise-Donnelly letter notciety, 
and in fact army and naval officers, politicians 
and congressmen by the hundred. * * * * 
We are sworn in the United States service only 
till the twenty-first of August, when I suppose 
we will return home. I have learned consider- 
able of military service, and if I ever go into it 
again, I shall strike for a field office. I suppose 
I might get a lieutenancy in the regular army, 
which I would like first rate. I am going to look 
around a little with a view to that while I am 
here." 

He writes of a want of tent accommodations,, 
there being but one tent for five persons, and 
proceeds: "We sleep on the ground with water- 
proof blankets under us to keep off the damp- 
ness. These were given to our company by the 
Hamilton ladies, who have an organized society 
to attend to our wants. Our victuals consist of 
pork, bacon, beef, coffee, beans, rice and bread, 
which are weighed out, so much to each man. 
This is cooked and eaten in the open air. The 



50 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

men cook their own food in little frames, with 
seven iron kettles and stew pans. We get plenty 
to eat, 'such as it is, and it is good enough what 
there is of it.' Once when I first arrived I went 
twenty-four hours without eating anything, but 
it was more to keep the men from complaining 
than because I could not get if, for the officers 
can generally get along pretty well. There is 
always more or less confusion when we move 
from one place to another, and sometimes lack of 
provisions, but usually there is plenty. I stand 
it very well now, never was hardier, and have 
learned to eat pork and drink raw coffee. The 
men do their washing in a beautiful stream near 
the camp, in which they go in squads. My 
waiter does mine, of course, the whole object 
being merely to get them clean, starching and 
ironing being out of the question. We have two 
battalion drills every day, one in the morning 
and the other in the evening. Sometimes the 
whole regiment fires ball cartridges at once in 
the side of a hill by way of exercise. The 
muskets carry ounce balls about the size of a 
common marble, which trim the limbs from the 
trees in front of us finely, I assure you. Some 
of the farmers around are Union men, and some 
secessionists, but the latter are compelled to 
keep very quiet. We are very careful as to the 
politics of the pedlars of whom we buy eatables. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 51 

One of my company was poisoned coming 
through Baltimore,. and hasn't been well since. 
The country looks just like Jersey in nearly 
every respect, and the days are not much warmer 
than a good hot Jersey day." 



BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 

r\N SUNDAY, July 21st, the Twenty-sixth 
^- > ^ Regiment left Washington about noon 
and marched to Alexandria, where it arrived 
about two o'clock. Here it waited until night 
for a train to transport it to Bull Run, where 
the battle was going on. July 23d Aliquis 
writes from Shooter's Hill, near Alexandria, 
Virginia, as follows : 

Shooter's Hill, Va., July 23, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

Still another step towards a battle and still a 
more lively realization of real soldiering. We 
left Washington on Sunday about noon, leaving 
the sick to guard our camp, and arrived at 
Alexandria about two o'clock, where we had to 
wait a great while to get a train which could 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 53 

transport us to the scene of action whither we 
were marching. Alexandria is indeed a desolate 
town. Grass grows in the streets, business ap- 
pears suspended, men look dismal and unhappy, 
and everything reminds of war. The Marshal 
House is continually crowded with soldiers tear- 
ing up staircases, floors, etc., to get pieces of 
wood with Ellsworth's blood on, which, by the 
way, must have flowed in great abundance in 
the young man's veins, if I may judge from the 
numerous specimens I have seen. While wait- 
ing at Alexandria, we continually heard heavy 
cannonading from the south, but night came on, 
and we finally lay down to sleep in a field near 
the depot, in the open air. Soon, however, we 
were called up and put on a train, the tops and 
platforms crowded wherever a man could stick 
on, and we started towards Fairfax. Aliquis 
lay on top of a car, next to the locomotive, 
gravely winking occasionally, as the cinders flew 
in his eyes, and now and then "dreaming the 
happy hours away," when the train suddenly 
stopped at a station just this side of Fairfax, 
called Springfield. There a picket was thrown 
out ahead, and we were stopped a while, during 
which we received the astounding intelligence 
that our forces were signally defeated, and we 
were ordered to fall back immediately to Alex- 
andria. When we got back we found Colonel 



54 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Kerrigan's regiment in the field which we had 
occupied, so we took an adjoining one and slept 
till morning, notwithstanding it had now begun 
to rain. When we awoke, trains crowded with 
retreating troops were coming hurriedly in, and 
the roads were crowded with stragglers from all 
sorts of regiments, in a weary and disorderly 
retreat. Our regiment now commenced its 
march up towards Fort Ellsworth, to cover their 
retreat so that they might rally behind us. And 
here a grotesque but most disheartening scene 
met our eyes — men from New Jersey, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Maine, all mixed up together, foot- 
sore and ragged, in no order, and apparently 
under no officers. All parts of the North were 
represented in the rout — Zouaves, with their 
gay uniforms torn, dirty and blood-soiled, 
soldiers without shoes, some without guns or 
knapsacks ; others, more determined, carrying 
away three or four of each ; some without eyes, 
some without ears and others with various flesh 
wounds, riding, limping or running — such was 
the picturesque procession which went along 
the road all yesterday forenoon. As they met 
us, they told us of the deadly fire of the batteries, 
told us to turn around immediately, and of the 
manner in which the rebels bayoneted all our 
wounded on the field, and such not very encour- 
- ging details. Others cheered us, and hoped 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 55 

" we'd give 'em Jesse," etc. We finally went to 
Fort Ellsworth and entered it, where we thought 
the cannon, the abatis, the ditch and the ram- 
parts looked very welcome after the accounts 
given us. Well, as the Dutchman said, we did 
not stop there, but went over beyond and 
bivouacked in a grove, where in a cold rain, 
without tents, we made sort of a cold breakfast. 
We expected an attack all day yesterday, and it 
was all we could do to keep the muskets dry. 
About noon the companies began lo go off in 
search of better quarters. Aliquis and his com- 
pany got into a deserted dwelling house, where 
with good fire-places and fences we managed to 
get comfortably dry. We put on extra pickets 
in the night, as ^t was reported that an immense 
force was approaching, and there is some danger 
of being pushed off into the Potomac. I really 
think the rebel General is very foolish if he does 
not attack us to-day. Most of our regiments 
are completely demoralized, and are crossing 
the river in crowds. The New York Twenty- 
sixth, Seventeenth, and some others, I think, are 
entitled to great credit for their present stand, 
as the majority are completely panic stricken. 
A Pennsylvania regiment near us is to-day hur- 
riedly packing up to return home, their time 
having expired, which is not extremely encour- 
aging either. The storm has now ceased, and 



56 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

the morning is beautiful. Our ideas of the 
enemy are all conjectural, and we know not 
what to-day will bring forth. I hope, however, 
when I write again to give you better news. 

Among the consoling features of our soldier- 
ing is the good feeling among our troops. The 
Captain of Company D was lately presented 
with an elegant sword, a portable camp bed, a 
camp stool, and other articles, by the members 
of his company. Aliquis. 

The discouraging effect of the battle of Bull 
Run upon our troops and their want of con- 
^dence in the ability of their commanders is re- 
flected in the following letter : 

Shooter's Hill, Va.. July 23, noon, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

In my last I gave you our impressions of our 
present state, as we had them this morning. 
Now our situation seems no better, and our 
regiment must shift for themselves. General 
McDowell we know nothing of ; some say he yet 
has a force with him to the south of us, others 
that he is now at Arlington House completely 
helpless ; others that he is in Washington. One 
thing is certain : the few troops this side of the 
river have no head that amounts to anything, 
and rely solely on our Colonel Christian. There 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 57 

are only about 4,000 men that can be relied on 
this side of the Potomac. We are on the outposts, 
along the Leesburg and Fairfax turnpikes, about 
eight miles from the " Long Bridge " to Wash- 
ington. We are hourly expecting an attack, in 
which we shall hold out as long as we can, and 
if compelled to retreat will fall back to the Long 
Bridge. If unable to cross that, we will there 
make a desperate stand on the banks of the river. 
I have no confidence in any General or Colonel 
near here but Christian. He yesterday recom- 
mended the occupying of certain hills near here, 
which has been done. As it is now, we have to 
rely upon ourselves, and we only hope our 
Colonel may be made a Brigadier-General, as 
is much talked of, and then we might indeed 
be more secure. Regiments are continually 
crossing to Washington, instead of crossing 
from there here as it should be. I can count 
from my present position three or four camps 
entirely deserted. We have a Captain detailed 
every day to command the pickets, which are 
scouring the woods two or three miles towards 
Fairfax. 

The New York Herald's account of the battle 
is a most egregious burlesque. If his reporter 
had seen the disorderly rout that I have, he 
would not have made so glaring a heading to 
his column. Part of the regiments that he men- 



58 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

tions were not at all in the action any more than 
we were. As for us, we were ordered there and 
then ordered back after the rout had begun. 
There is nothing to hinder 15,000 rebels from 
encamping right opposite Washington this morn- 
ing, and we understand they have 170,000 be- 
tween here and Richmond. As I said before, 
there are only five or six regiments here that are 
reliable — the others are breaking up and scatter- 
ing, some to their homes, and some to Washing- 
ton. I hope General Scott will soon restore 
order, for in him we have all confidence, and 
also in our Colonel ; beyond that deponent saith 
nothing. We are to-day occupying some of the 
camps that have been, as I should think, basely 
deserted; but their tents are very acceptable. 

Aliquis. 

July 24, 1861. — Still there is no further ad- 
vance of either army. There was no disturbance 
last night, though we were called out once into 
line by a "long roll" in some of the regiments 
on our left. Yesterday afternoon scouts were sent 
out around to ascertain our true state. Our regi- 
ment daily sends about fifty men some distance 
up the Fairfax road as a picket, and yesterday 
afternoon the Thirty-second New York Regi- 
ment came up and encamped just in the rear of 
them. Near a Theological Seminary, on our 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 59 

right, is the Fifteenth, under McLeod Murphy. 
In Fort Ellsworth, which is about a quarter of a 
mile from us, is Colonel Lansing with his Seven- 
teenth, and also with a Massachusetts regiment 
near him. Some others are also down on the 
flats, but a great many of the camps there are 
deserted. Last evening in the moonlight, the 
woods in which we at first stopped, were entirely 
cut down by our regiment, so as to expose the 
Leesburg road to the guns of Fort Ellsworth. 
Colonel Lansing also tore down a cemetery wall 
near the fort, so as to use his guns to the best 
advantage. Major Jennings, who had been sent 
off by the Colonel on extra duty, returned 
yesterday afternoon. We find, by the way, that 
they have not forgotten us over in Washington. 
About four o'clock yesterday afternoon we saw 
a body of cavalry come up the road escorting a 
carriage containing four persons — President 
Lincoln, William H. Seward, General McDowell, 
and our Adjutant, David Smith. The latter es- 
corted them to Colonel Christian's headquarters, 
where they remained for some time. 

Colonel Christian occupies a large brick house 
owned by a Major Smoot, now a Confederate 
Major. Company B also is quartered in a por- 
tion of it. Company A is in a house near our 
bivouac ground ; Company D in a large frame 
house off on the right ; Company G in a house 



60 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

on the left, used for a hospital ; the other com- 
panies occupy tents which were deserted by a 
Pennsylvania regiment. It is on a beautiful 
bluff where we are encamped, with a fine view 
of the Potomac, while Washington with its large 
buildings presents a splendid appearance in the 
distance. 

The defeat of McDowell is now known to be 
much less than was at first supposed. Stragglers 
are coming in even yet, and I suppose the regi- 
ments are speedily re-organizing over the river. 
I can see this morning the glitter of bayonets 
down along this side of the Potomac, as if a 
regiment was moving from the Long Bridge to 
Alexandria. I suppose a large army will soon 
be gathered here again. 

No more at present. I am now about to start 
with a picket guard up the Fairfax road to 
Clouds Mills. The officers and men are all out 
watching a balloon, which has just gone up 
from Washington. Aliquis. 



CAMP AND PICKET. 

T TNDER date of July 26th, 1861, Captain Ar- 
rowsmith writes his brother from Shoot- 
er's Hill, Va., a letter which indicates a better 
feeling and a return of confidence among the 
troops : 

Dear Brother: 

I have with my regiment crossed over into 
Virginia. As you said in a letter (which I re- 
ceived last night) that you received the Utica 
Herald regularly, there's no need of writing such 
minute details in my letters home. We are still 
quartered on Shooter's Hill, mostly in tents, but 
I marched my company into an unoccupied 
dwelling house, owned by a man now in the 
rebel army. It is a fine, large house, and its 
fireplaces and cupboards come very handily for 
our use. We sleep around on the floors in all 



62 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

sorts of positions. Half the houses around here 
have been thus deserted. 

The first day or so after the battle this regi- 
ment was in a " ticklish " situation. The time 
of many regiments had expired and they hur- 
riedly crossed the river, while others, panic 
stricken, followed them in a disorderly manner, 
leaving their tents still standing. It was gener- 
ally believed that a large force of rebels were 
approaching. At one time there were only 
about four thousand left here. Now, however, 
they are returning — a large force is collecting — 
batteries are being erected — groves and forests 
are cut down to give free scope to the cannon, 
and desolation as usual betokens the presence 
of a large army. Last Wednesday the Colonel 
sent me off with a company of thirty-two picked 
men as a picket guard about five miles towards 
Fairfax, for the purpose of first giving the alarm 
in case of a night attack. The place was called 
Clouds Mills and it was the place where Ells- 
worth's Zouaves carried on the flour business — 
perhaps you saw a sketch of it in a pictorial 
paper. There we had a barricade of barrels 
filled with sand and piled up in the road, with a 
mill on our right and a high hill on the left. 
We took three rebel dragoons — fine-looking fel- 
lows — and gave them over to the General in 
command. They had a flag of truce, which was 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 63 

considered a mere subterfuge, and they are yet 
detained as spies. In the afternoon a boy came 
down to the barricade and said a party of rebel 
cavalry had carried off his father, who was a 
Union man. I rather suspected the boy, but 
nevertheless took ten men and proceeded with 
great caution about two and a half miles in 
the country. Finding by inquiry of negroes 
that I was getting within the rebel lines, and 
hearing that no such man as was claimed resid- 
ed there, I turned back, and guess pretty luck- 
ily, for that night some rebel cavalry came with- 
in a mile of our barricade. I remained at the 
mill till Thursday noon, living on the neighbors, 
who were all secessionists, but very accommoda- 
ting. I boarded with a farmer who had two sons 
in the Southern army, and who had had a 
brother killed in the last battle. His wife, how- 
ever, put no arsenic in the hoe-cakes, and we 
used to smoke pipes together in the grove by 
his house. This is a queer state of things, after 
all. 

I don't know that I ever told you of the fine 
present the boys of my company gave me — a 
gilt-mounted sword worth twenty-five dollars, 
a camp bed that will fold up in a carpet bag, 
worth six dollars ; a camp stool, one dollar ; and 
two pairs of white military gloves, three dollars. 
I got a stray horse the other day off at the mill 



64 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

and he is around in camp now. A great many 
of the soldiers go around here and there on 
stray horses which they have picked up. 
Where we are now encamped we are within the 
range of Fort Ellsworth ; so to-morrow we are 
to move farther up in the country, in another 
range of hills. Where we are now is a beatiful 
place. From my window I can see the Potomac 
and the Capitol of Washington away off in the 
distance — also Alexandria, which now is liter- 
ally being deserted. I don't believe there'll be 
a general engagement again very soon, for I 
learn that the Southern army after all is cut up 
much worse than ours. Lincoln, Seward and 
General McDowell came up to our camp the day 
before yesterday, escorted by a troop of cavalry, 
and called upon the Colonel. I have seen him 
now several times — attended two receptions 
when in Washington and got introduced to 
"Abe" and "Mrs. Abe," the latter of whom is 
far the best looking. 

I understand that General McClellan is here 
now to command the Army of the Potomac. I 
have much more confidence in him than in Mc- 
Dowell, for we are all of the impression that we 
can beat the rebels two to one, on a fair field 
and with prudent officers. George. 

George, from the time of his enlistment, ap- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 65 

plied himself diligently to the work of master- 
ing military tactics and had become quite pro- 
ficient in the art. He was also a very popular 
officer, both with his subordinates and his asso- 
ciates in arms. An officer of his Company in a 
letter to a friend thus wrote : 

" Captain Arrowsmith is the idol of his sol- 
diers. The influence he wields as an officer is 
remarkable. There is not a man of them but 
would cheerfully follow him into the very jaws 
of death. He seldom has occasion to adminis- 
ter a rebuke. An order of his when once under- 
stood he is never compelled to repeat, but has 
the pleasure of seeing it executed with the ut- 
most alacrity." 



THE TENTED FIELD. 



A N ordinary history of the late war is replete 
with information concerning the move- 
ments and operations of armies, as supplied by 
corps, division and brigade commanders; but 
how little is written from the standpoint of the 
subordinate officer, or the private ! George's 
letters are valuable and instructive in this par- 
ticular, as a relation not only of the daily occur- 
rences and the minutice of camp life which en- 
gross the attention of the humble soldier, but 
also as presenting views of the military situation 
as he sees it. 

In the following interesting communications 
are presented further pen pictures of life on the 
tented field : 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 67 

Camp Maxwell, V a., August 4th, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

My letters, you will observe, like everything 
else pertaining to camp, are very irregular. 
Food in camp is irregular with a moving regi- 
ment, both as regards quantity and quality. 
Sometimes, when shifting our position, we have 
long fasts, which are not particularly conducive 
to a prayerful mood ; at other times, potatoes, 
peaches, chickens, onions, beets, etc., mysteri- 
ously appear and disappear around the camp 
fires. k 'A moment seen, then gone forever." 
We do not, as a regiment, generally make a 
practice of foraging ; but then, if we did not do 
it a little, Kerrigan's regiment, which is near us, 
would get more than their "rations." Cattle 
are very rarely disturbed, though, it is true, 
horses are occasionally impressed into the ser- 
vice of their country, while a misanthropic mule 
may sometimes be seen sedately carrying two 
or three volunteers around on his back. Sleep- 
ing is also irregular, and in all sorts of places, 
from the finest of bedrooms down to the open 
air, in a rain, with the boots of a neighbor for a 
pillow. Tents are fine apartments though, ex- 
cept during a heavy rain, when the ground floor 
is apt to be quite damp, especially if on a low, 
marshy spot. 



68 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Since I wrote last we have been newly uni- 
formed, and have laid aside the old colorless 
clothes which the men have so long worn under 
protest. Of course this gave an entirely new 
appearance to the regiment, which looked as if 
it had just been "shedding." One fellow, much 
fatigued after a long march, awoke from a long 
sleep that afternoon and saw what seemed a lot 
of strangers about. Loquitur, rubbing his eyes, 
" Wh-what regiment's this ? Where's the Twen- 
ty-sixth ? Did you see which way they went?" 
We were inspected by a regular officer last Fri- 
day, who is going through all the regiments 
along the river. 

The greatest confidence is felt in all quarters 
in the ability and tact of General McClellan;and 
his untiring activity imparts a vigor to every 
department of the army. The forests are still 
being levelled, entrenchments thrown up and 
batteries erected. The Northern "mud sills" 
are making havoc in the " sacred soil " generally, 
enough, at least, to embitter the feelings of even 
that part of " the chivalry " who were the best 
inclined towards the North. I think the ideas 
of the Northern press with reference to South- 
ern sentiment are very erroneous. Around here 
the inhabitants seem to be all secessionists, but of 
course they are not forward in ventilating their 
politics, especially when they are certain that 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 69 

it will tell upon their hen-roosts and orchards. 
A young farmer boy can scarcely be found any- 
where around here ; all, as I suppose, being off 
with the army. The rebel army is made of good 
material. The Black Horse Cavalry, especially, 
were made up almost wholly of men of culture 
and fortune, and I've heard the greatest mortifi- 
cation expressed by Virginians that they should 
have been cut to pieces by the New York Fire- 
men — the aristocracy by the sans culottes. These 
Zouaves, by the way, are the " lions " among the 
troops about here. Their officers are all either 
dead or good for nothing, and they warm all 
over recounting their adventures and showing 
their trophies from the Bull Run battle. The 
Zouaves, Kerrigan's, the Mozart, McCunn's, Mc- 
Leod Murphy's and Lansing's are the regiments 
whose camps are nearest our own. 

Mr. Owen J. Lewis of your city was visiting 
through our camp yesterday, surrounded, as 
you may well imagine, by crowds of old ac- 
quaintances asking for news from Utica. A 
man in civilian's dress is quite a curiosity now, 
and we stare at him with as much interest as 
we used to have in a military company, when we 
delighted to follow them barefooted through 
the streets for miles, to the great disgust of all 
school teachers. Mr. Lewis started this morn- 
ing on a trip to Fortress Monroe. 



70 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Colonel Kerrigan was heard to pay Colonel 
Christian and our regiment quite a compliment 
the other day. He remarked that it was the 
best-drilled volunteer regiment he had yet seen. 

It is now Sunday night ; warm, oh, how warm, 
but beautiful ! Grim-looking war ships are 
lying silently in the river between here and 
Washington. The Chaplain is holding religious 
services at one end of the camp, with the band 
putting in " Old Hundred " and " Coronation " 
occasionally. From another part may be heard 
soldiers chanting " Dixie," celebrating the virtues 
of the " Female Smuggler," or bewailing the un- 
timely death of " Gentle Annie." It is half-past 
nine, and time that these noises stopped — also it's 
time my light was put out. Aliquis. 

There was what was called the " three months 
trouble " about this time. Men who had enlist- 
ed for three months and their time expiring, 
insisted upon going home and refused to do 
duty, for which cause there were several arrests. 
They were assured that as recruiting progressed 
those anxious to go home might do so, but the 
necessity for their services was imperative for 
the time being, and they were required by the 
Government to report for duty to the Adjutant- 
General of the United States Army at the ex- 
piration of their term of service. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 71 

A little later the Colonel of the Twenty-sixth 
New York Regiment called about him his officers 
and stated that he desired none to remain ex- 
cept such as were prepared to serve the full two 
years. Upon this fourteen officers tendered 
their resignations, which were at once accepted 
and their successors from among those who 
were " in for the war " selected. 

The next letter is from Camp Maxwell, 
Virginia, under date of August 7th, 1861: 

To the Editor of the Utica Morning He raid : 

We were aroused again last night by two 
couriers from General McClellan, who ordered 
us to assemble, with the rest of the brigade, im- 
mediately along the Leesburg road. This was 
a little after midnight, and we lay out until 
morning, but got into no engagement. We 
could hear the rumbling of their artillery 
wagons, however, and it is known that some part 
of the rebel army is not far distant. These in- 
fantry regiments in an alarm in the night turn 
out very quietly, and, as they have no lights, a 
person might be not more than fifty yards from 
the camp and not know that a man was astir. 
If we are attacked here a battery will be sent 
across to Washington, in apprehension, I sup- 
pose, of feigned attacks. This lying out in case 



72 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

of alarm is what the boys call "going out to 
pasture," and it isn't very pleasing when they 
are obliged to sleep in the wet grass all night, 
and then return to camp in the morning without 
any engagement. 

The following order was read on parade, last 
evening, by the Colonel : 

His Excellency, the President of the United States, de- 
siring the further service of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, 
New York State Volunteers, and having made requisi- 
tion upon the Governor of this State, therefore, Colonel 
Christian is hereby directed, on the expiration of the 
term for which such regiment was mustered into the 
service of the United States, (August 21st, 1861), to 
report with his command to the Adjutant-General of 
the United States Army, for duty under the order of 
the United States Government for the remainder of the 
term of enlistment of the regiment into the service of the 
State of New York. 

By order of the Commander-in-Chief, 

D. CAMPBELL, 
Assistant Adjutant-General. 

This occasions a great deal of disappointment 
among the men, many of whom had made 
arrangements to go to their homes after the 
twenty-first of August. The Colonel, however, 
says that as recruiting progresses those very 
anxious to go home may gradually all get a dis- 
charge, as he will use his exertions for that ob- 
ject at the War Department. He believes that 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 73 

the war at most will not last a year, and is 
determined himself at all events to see its close 
in the service. 

The following changes have occurred in the 
officer roll of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, and 
we much regret that those resigned now are 
leaving us. The appointments, which have been 
made from among the most trustworthy and re- 
liable men in the regiment, have been confirmed 
by Governor Morgan, and the new officers will 
enter upon the discharge of their duties imme- 
diately. The resignations were assented to by 
General McDowell, and the officers resigning dis- 
charged from the service of the United States : 

William K. Bacon, Adjutant, vice David 
Smith, Jr., resigned. 

Ensign Gilbert A. Hay, Lieutenant of Com- 
pany A, vice William A. Mercer, resigned. 

Sergeant-Major John T. Kingsbury, Ensign of 
Company A, vice Hay, promoted. 

Lieutenant Norman W. Palmer, Captain of 
Company E, vice Antoine Brendle, resigned. 

Ensign H. D. Barnett, Lieutenant of Company 
B, vice Norman W. Palmer, promoted. 

Sergeant William J. Harlow, Ensign of Com- 
pany B, vice Barnett, promoted. 

Sergeant William C. Gardner, Lieutenant of 
Company D, vice William P. West, promoted. 

Lieutenant E. R. P. Shurly, of Company G, 



74 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Captain of Company C, vice John H. Fairbanks, 
resigned. 

Sergeant Hugh Leonard, Ensign of Company 

D, vice Richard Hall, resigned. 

Sergeant Charles B. Coventry, Lieutenant of 
Company E, vice Oliver W. Sheldon, resigned. 
Corporal Charles Smith, Ensign of Company 

E, vice James VanVleck, resigned. 

Corporal William Cone, Lieutenant of Com- 
pany F, vice Rufus D. Patten, resigned. 

Private John Williams, Ensign of Company F, 
vice John Bevine, resigned. 

Ensign Frank L. Binder, Lieutenant of Com- 
pany G, vice E. R. P. Shurly, promoted. 

Frank Lee, Ensign of Company G, vice 
Binder, promoted. 

Lieutenant William P. West, Captain of Com- 
pany I, vice John H. Palmer, resigned. 

Corporal Alonzo Thompson, Lieutenant of 
Company I, vice Henry J. Flint, resigned. 

Charles S. Johnson, Ensign of Company I, 
vice John W. Kinney, resigned. 

Ensign Emmet Harder, Lieutenant of Com- 
pany K, vice Charles F. Baragar, resigned. 

Sergeant Albert D. Lynch, Ensign of Com- 
pany K, vice Harder, promoted. 

Aliquis. 

(The officers as above appointed have been 
duly commissioned by Governor Morgan.) 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. *5 

August 18th, 1861, we find the Twenty-sixth 
at Alexandria again, and Aliquis writes as fol- 
lows : 

Alexandria, August 18th, 1861. 

To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

We have again moved our camp, in order to 
join the brigade to which we have been annexed 
— General Heintzelman's. We have thus lost 
the beautiful grounds and the splendid scenery 
of our former location ; but we are glad to find 
ourselves in a brigade where affairs will be con- 
ducted with more system. This moving a regi- 
ment after it gets well settled down, is a great 
nuisance, and makes much confusion for a short 
time. If we only had some women to scold the 
teamsters, it would be as good as an ordinary 
May Day. The army drivers use only one line 
to their four horses, and this occasions the use 
of quite a variety of terms to their horses, which 
increases to a most hideous jargon whenever 
about a dozen teamsters get tangled up in a 
stumpy field. All the camp articles are thrown 
into these large wagons in beautiful confusion. 
Through the opening in the rear of the wagons 
may be seen a musket, a man's leg, a knapsack 
and a camp pail. Two men march with each 
wagon to guard it, and away they go, the regi- 
ment just ahead of them. Well, when we get 



76 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

to the new ground, the wagons are unloaded in 
the rain, (for it is always as sure to rain when 
we "' move " as it is when a Sabbath-school gets 
up a picnic) — then the companies go to work 
putting up their tents, and after the usual 
amount of shouting and quarrelling, things 
finally settle down into the old order. Enter- 
prising men then make a variety of fire-places 
in the ground, into which some very luxurious 
individual may place a joint of stove pipe. Per- 
haps the same pampered person that revels amid 
these conveniences may get some boards off 
from a fence and put a floor in his tent to sleep 
upon ; but most of us live like plain volunteers. 
I suppose it is very novel and pleasant around 
in York state for your military companies to 
"camp out" about a week in nice weather, with 
buffalo robes and champagne, and stand guard, 
watching in great suspicion for the approach 
of an enemy from a neighboring corn field. 
But "camping out" loses its novelty after a 
few months, and standing guard becomes a 
stern reality when it is known that Jackson's 
brothers can't be broken of their very impolite 
habit of shooting our pickets. Every one of 
these volunteers whom the Northern citizens 
encouraged to go to. war for their country, and 
whom you cheered and told to shoot Jeff Davis, 
and whom you gave five dollars and advised 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 77 

not to get killed, ole feller — though they never 
get into a pitched battle, are nevertheless enti- 
tled to great credit for the instances of self- 
denial in their lives as soldiers. The volunteers 
are now the only force the country can rely 
upon. The regular army is now only a fossil 
relic of something that once was of some im- 
portance. Now it is only of use as a police 
force, for which it is usually employed. Colonel 
Christian had occasion the other day to ex- 
press nearly these same opinions to a regular 
captain, and he "owned the corn," expressing 
his preference for the volunteers. Strange to 
say, political favoritism is exhibited as much 
as ever in the army appointments. Young sons 
of rich politicians, who bid fair to be good 
for nothing else, can usually be lieutenants in 
the army. In the style of righting which this 
war brings out, men will have to act as indi- 
viduals very often with the lines broken, and 
the personal identity of the men ought not to 
be swallowed up in the regiment, as is too much 
the result of the intellect-deadening drill in the 
regular army. Hurrah for the volunteer ! 

Our brigade is composed of four regiments, 
the Sixteenth, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh 
New York, and the Fifth Maine. General 
Heintzleman is quite unwell, and is at Washing- 
ton, while Colonel Davis is at present in com- 



78 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

mand. Colonel Christian is the second in rank. 
Our situation is to the extreme south of the 
Army of the Potomac, and our pickets extend 
nearly down to Mount Vernon. The regiments 
in the brigade take turns sending out pickets, 
and the companies in the regiment take turns 
going. Three of our companies have gone out 
to-day with two field pieces. Before we left our 
old camp our pickets out by Bailey's Cross 
Roads had a sort of skirmish with some rebel 
horsemen. We lost no men, but as near as we 
could learn from the inhabitants around there, 
and what our men themselves saw, six of the 
enemy were unhorsed. I met an old school- 
mate at the Provost Marshal's, the other day, 
under arrest as a spy. He was very glad to see 
me, and in talking over old times we forgot 
that it was our duy to cut each other's throats. 
His name is John Bradley ; he lives in Alex- 
andria, and is a secessionist. " Sich is life." 

Aliquis. 



DESTRUCTION OF A BRIDGE. 

/^APTAIN ARROWSMITH and his company 
^-^ acting under orders take an active part in 
the destruction of the bridge over Hunting Run 
to prevent its use by the enemy and the capture 
of Alexandria. A description of this affair is 
contained in a communication to the Utica Herald 
from Alexandria under date of August 18th, 1861, 
but not from the pen of Aliquis, as follows : 

Headquarters 26th N. Y. Volunteers, ) 
Alexandria, Va., August 18th. ) 

To the Editor of the Utiea Morning Herald: 

A brief description of two nights' duty and the 
destruction of the bridge over Hunting Run 
will no doubt be interesting to you. 

OUR SITUATION. 

A mile or two below Alexandria a great bay 



80 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

sets back from the Potomac into the western 
shore ; on the north it bends around a promon- 
tory until it edges upon the suburbs of the city, 
while upon the south are high and wooded lands, 
threaded by a score of roads leading to the 
enemy's camp only a few miles distant. The 
Mount Vernon road which crosses this important 
bridge intersects all these roads. 

The bridge was nearly half a mile in length, 
consisting of a causeway from either shore sev- 
eral rods in length, connected by a substantial 
oaken structure, and crossed the Run about one 
mile from the Potomac. 

A sluggish stream winds through the meadows 
at the base of the hills, emptying into the Run 
about two miles from the river. This stream 
and the Run are known as " Hunting Run." 
They form the dividing line of the two great 
armies on the south of our position. 

The camps of the Sixteenth, Twenty-sixth and 
Twenty-seventh New York Volunteers and Fifth 
Maine, are located in the meadow, just upon the 
northern edge of these waters. 

ONE NIGHT'S DUTY. 

Last Sunday the Colonel sent three companies 
across the bridge, conducted by Captains Jen- 
nings, West and Blackwell ; these companies 
separated on the opposite side, each taking 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 81 

different roads, and proceeding from four to six 
miles toward the enemy, threw out their pickets 
and remained till next morning. 

About two o'clock in the morning they faintly 
heard voices apparently giving commands in 
the distance. Captain Jennings cautiously ap- 
proached a mile beyond, and plainly heard the 
deadened tramp of a large column of infantry. 

It was late in the day of Monday when the 
companies came back to camp. The Colonel, 
upon hearing their report, immediately mounted 
his horse and, accompanied by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Richardson and Major Jennings, went 
to the bridge, and to their surprise found it 
guarded by only nine men of the Twenty-seventh 
New York Regiment. Proceeding to the head- 
quarters of General Franklin, Colonel Christian 
reported the case, and asked permission to be- 
come responsible for the security of the road 
against any approach of the enemy ; for this 
duty it was determined to send a company. 

A NIGHT IN THE RAIN. 

Captain Arrowsmith, upon his request, was 
assigned this duty. Adjutant Bacon also ac- 
companied them as a volunteer. The night was 
one of the most dismal I ever saw ; the rain fell 
in torrents. The men were obliged to stand 
along the bridge, exposed to the full vigor of 



82 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

the storm — while the fearless Captain and our 
promising young Adjutant occasionally crossed 
toward the hills and listened for an expected 
approach. Red and yellow rockets were re- 
peatedly thrown from the camps of the enemy, 
which marked a chain of regiments from the 
river for several miles towards Manassas. In 
the morning the company returned to camp, 
and, notwithstanding their sleepless night, as 
usual went through the duties of the day. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BRIDGE. 

In the edge of last evening, by invitation of 
Colonel Christian, I accompanied him for the 
first time to the bridge. We then called on 
Colonel Davies (at present commanding this 
Brigade), to whom the Colonel plainly stated 
the negligence in allowing the bridge to remain 
— how easily with a howitzer the enemy could 
sweep our infantry from it — and remarked that 
we were carrying on the war as though we 
would not inconvenience the enemy, injure his 
property, or hurt any of them, and proposed 
that we take the responsibility of destroying the 
bridge. The Colonel's assent being given, two 
companies, one of the Twenty-sixth and the 
other of the Twenty-seventh, proceeded to the 
work, and this morning saw but a few forlorn 
timbers where yesterday stood a noble structure. 






LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 06 

Thus war compels the destruction in a day of 
many works which have cost months of labor ; 
but in destroying this bridge we cut off one of 
the most feasible approaches of the enemy upon 
Alexandria. 

Adjutant William Kirkland Bacon referred to 
in the above letter was a warm friend of Captain 
Arrowsmith. He was only nineteen years of 
age, and had left Hamilton College to enroll 
himself as a private in defence of his country. 
He is described as the soul of honor and pos- 
sessed of an unsullied personal purity. He dis- 
tinguished himself by his bravery upon a num- 
ber of battle-fields, receiving a grievous wound 
at Manassas, and falling mortally wounded at 
the battle of Fredericksburgh. 

In a private letter to his parents, Adjutant 
Bacon writes concerning the guarding of the 
bridge over Hunting Run where he served with 
Captain Arrowsmith as follows : 

" Four or five days ago I accompanied Captain 
Arrowsmith, with part of his men and a number 
from Company C, in charge of Ensign Neill, to 
guard a bridge which crosses Hunting Run and 
connects Alexandria with the Mount Vernon 
road. The night was dark and stormy, and the 
rain fell in torrents. Before morning I was 



84 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

drenched to the skin, and my comrades fared no 
better. My revolver and sword became wet, 
and the next day were so rusty that it took 
several hours to clean them. I do not think the 
Captain and myself, who are quite intimate 
friends, thought very much at the time of the 
importance of the mission on which we were 
sent. We sat together, and talked about all the 
old times at home, and contrasted our condition 
at the time with the pleasant, cheerful firesides 
there, where we could easily enjoy the greatest 
comfort and luxury in the world. How foolish, 
we thought, would we be considered if we should 
even run out for a few moments in the rain at 
home. Here, however, we were doing what was 
rendering our country some little service. If 
the secessionists had obtained possession of the 
bridge, they could have taken Alexandria with- 
out a blow, and, it might be, have caused another 
such disastrous rout as that at Bull's Run. We 
had really the distinguished honor of volunteer- 
ing to protect (with our lives if need be) one of 
the most important outposts of the Federal 
army. When one sees how much the country 
needs his services at this crisis, can he, with 
any degree of self-satisfaction, consent to return 
home, however much he would love to see once 
more those whom he has left behind ? For my 
own part, sooner than leave the service of my 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 85 

country, to which I am indebted for the bless- 
ings of freedom and almost unbounded liberty, 
I would consent to die the worst of deaths. Our 
country is now passing through a most terribly 
trying ordeal, but I hope she will come out puri- 
fied by the test. God is on our side, and with 
His help we will forever crush out the hydra- 
headed monster of secession; and, I hope, settle, 
once and for all, the question — so often agitated 
— of slavery. 

"We will probably remain here for about a 
month longer, and then advance towards Manas- 
sas. The great army, thousands of which are 
now pouring into Washington daily, will soon 
be ready to take the places of the regiments 
now stationed here and all along this side of the 
Potomac. It may be that the rebels, anticipat- 
ing our advance, will make a counter movement, 
and attempt to force our lines back upon Wash- 
ington, or further if possible. This, however, I 
do not think will be done, for, if accounts are 
true, the rebel army is in a far worse state 
of demoralization than ours. The payment of 
troops in scrip and corporation currency — such 
as we used to call ' shinplasters ' — must be suf- 
ficient of itself to cause complaint and dissatis- 
faction. It is said, too, that as the Confederate 
election must soon take place, Davis, Lee and 
Beauregard are at ' sword's points.' This would 



86 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

not be very unnatural, for three men as am- 
bitious as they are never pull well together." 

The following extract is from a letter of 
George to his father, dated September ist, 1861, 
from Alexandria, Camp Vernon, expressing his 
desire not to miss any work : 

"This brigade is the extreme left of the army 
here. I'm picketing and scouting and have been 
down on the Washington estates and in view of 
Mount Vernon. 

"It seems to me that summer has passed very 
quickly; to-day is the first of autumn. What 
fighting there is to be done will have to be done 
up before January I suppose. If we go into 
winter quarters then I'll come home on furlough 
right away, but at present I'm afraid that I'd 
just miss all the work if I should leave now. 
We are daily expecting an engagement and we 
are confident as to the result. We see balloons, 
rockets and fires in the rebel camp nearly every 
night. I went the other night so near them 
with some pickets that we beat up a * long roll ' 
in their camp which we could hear distinctly. 

"I'm now 'color captain,' that is, occupy the 
position in line just to the right of the centre. 
I am well and hard at work." 






A DESCRIPTION OF ALEXANDRIA. 



'T'HE following bright letter contains among 
other things a flash-light picture of Alex- 
andria : 

Alexandria, Va., September 3d, 1S61. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Hera la 7 : 

Alexandria is an old-looking town to a North- 
erner. An old-looking place it is, and in this 
the Virginians take great pride, and they speak 
of the reputation it had as a shipping port in 
the Revolution. There is the old engine house 
of the Friendship Company, to which one 
George Washington, of Mount Vernon, once be- 
longed. Here is the road along which Braddock 
proceeded on his ill-fated expedition. But one 
needs some such recollections to divert his at- 
tention, for it abounds in unpleasant odors of 



88 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

all descriptions. Every corner we turn there 
appears to be a new smell, and even the drug 
stores present their unfavorable side to the pas- 
senger. There is only one thing worse in Alex- 
andria than its odor, and that is its pavements. 
If a new geographer should come on its streets, 
and not know it was intentionally paved, he 
would term it a " very rough and rocky region, 
and only visited by travelers with great risks." 
But Afexandria was really paved, a part of it 
during the Revolutionary War, and there have 
been no essential repairs since. It is, however, 
called by the natives " a right smart chance of a 
town." It abounds in negroes, drug stores, 
confectioneries, mosquitoes, and at present, sol- 
diers. The military police seem as omnipresent, 
I suppose, as those of Paris — ferreting out spies, 
searching buildings for concealed arms, arrest- 
ing disorderly soldiers, and confining gentlemen 
who venture around too much without a pass, 
sending them to the Provost Marshal's, very 
red and indignant, between two muskets. The 
" slave pen," once the scene of the liveliest trade 
in Alexandria, is now used as a military prison. 
Courts Martial are now a fixed institution in the 
town, and it is very interesting to attend them 
and witness the examination of suspected citi- 
zens, spies, and deserters. The Seventeenth 
New York Regiment is now occupying and 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 89 

guarding the town; Fort Ellsworth, which they 
formerly held, being now manned by a strong 
body of sailors. 

Out by Bailey's Cross Roads, both armies are 
at work night and day, throwing up intrench- 
ments right in sight of each other. Over a 
thousand men on each side are continually 
wielding the pickaxe and spade, preparing, I 
suppose, for a battle near Washington, which is 
inevitably to decide the contest. There is occa- 
sionally a shot exchanged just by way of recog- 
nition to officers who visit the works on horse- 
back. Colonel Christian, accompanied by other 
officers, frequently rides out to view the progress 
of the intrenchments. 

Big time among the boys yesterday. Found 
three "feminine" ambrotypes in the bottom of 
a box of clothing that had never before been 
overhauled ; startling effect upon the personal 
appearance of the troops from these ambrotypes ; 
thanks to the fair unknown who have furnished 
these "three episodes," as Ward would call 
them. 

Our regiment now have the black army hats 
of the style of the seventeenth century, with 
plumes and ornaments. If the men were only 
waist deep in the water, they would pass very 
well for the " Landing of the Pilgrims." The 
volunteer force is gradually becoming uniform 



90 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

in its dress, a thing which the Bull Run experi- 
ence shows to be most desirable. 

I have been much disappointed with the cli- 
mate of Virginia. For the last three weeks there 
has been but little warm weather, and the nights 
are indeed quite cold. Those who came South 
illy provided with clothing have made a great 
mistake, and it is probably these deluded per- 
sons that we hear practising "double quick " up 
and down the company streets towards morning. 

The two years' excitement has all subsided, 
and the daily expectation of a battle absorbs 
everything else. " Give us something to do," 
the men say, " and we will stay cheerfully as 
long as necessary." There is every probability 
that the old regiments will have something to 
do in the autumn campaign, for it will doubtless 
be the policy of the General to leave the lately 
formed regiments to protect Washington. You 
may rest assured that this regiment is none the 
less eager for service, and no less patriotic on 
account of the crisis through which this, in com- 
mon with many others, has passed. Leave a 
wide margin for exaggeration in estimating the 
reliability of news from Washington, for it is 
verily a city of sensations. We are really 
obliged to look in the New York papers to get 
the news from the army, and in fact, they get up 
incidents so much better, and tell of feats so 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 91 

much more gallant and escapes so much more 
miraculous than we hear of here, that it is very 
pleasant to get information through that channel. 
I heard it rumored last night that General Mc- 
Dowell was arrested for treason. 

Aliquis. 

A reason for the inactivity complained of in 
the last letter was the fact that the Twenty-sixth 
Regiment was too well disciplined to be spared 
from the force reserved for the protection of 
Washington, though the Colonel and other 
officers had made strenuous efforts to be allowed 
to join the advancing army. They were not 
idle, however. They built and occupied Fort 
Lyon, then one of the strongest fortifications of 
the kind in Virginia. 



BEAUTIFUL CAMP MARY. 

" I ^HE regiment's camp is now moved to a 
more comfortable place, near the bank of 
the Potomac, where Aliquis discusses various 
regimental matters. 

Camp Mary, September 12th, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

Again we have moved, and this time to a 
beautiful piece of ground to which Colonel 
Christian has given the name that heads this 
letter. It is over Hunting Run, where we have 
moved, which carries us still more to the left 
of the Grand Army of the Potomac — the left 
regiment in the left Brigade. We are now 
under the command of General Slocum, an offi- 
cer of whom we all have the highest ideas. Let- 
ters to the regiment, however, still occasionally 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 93 

come directed to Colonel McCunn or General 
Heintzleman's Brigade, an error which corre- 
spondents should take care to correct. Our 
Brigade is to be posted behind a line of intrench- 
ments, and nearly our whole force is working 
on them every day; we already have a fine rifle 
pit in our front. Our regiment came up yester- 
day afternoon, and last night was the only one 
on this side of the river. In the evening some 
picket firing off in front of us kept us on the 
alert for a while ; nothing serious, however, oc- 
curred, though it is reported to-day that some 
of the Maine boys were captured. To-day the 
rest of the Brigade have been moving up, to- 
gether with a company of dragoons, and Cap- 
tain Thompson's battery, so that affairs now 
look a little more sociable. We now really are 
finely situated, and we have taken great care to 
make the camp comfortable. An unoccupied 
house near by was taken down to make floors to 
the tents, the fences in the neighborhood being 
rather defective. Captain Palmer has charge 
of a squad of men daily employed in making a 
log building for the convenience of the guard, 
facetiously called " Fort Palmer." Yesterday 
afternoon we heard the skirmish up at the other 
end of the line, of which you have of course 
heard, but reported fighting is now so common 
a topic that it creates but little interest. 



94 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Picketing is a favorite duty with the men and 
officers of the regiment. There is a most solemn 
stillness along the roads that lead from Alex- 
andria down into the country, and you may 
travel miles and see scarcely a living being, and 
hear only the chirping of insects or the singing 
of birds. I lay out all night not long since, on 
a hill at the outposts of the Federal lines. I 
never saw a more beautiful landscape. As the 
moon rose up slowly and made the still Potomac 
appear as a flare of light, the stillness had a 
drowsy effect upon us all. I lay, thinking of the 
prospect of a fight, when five horsemen, armed 
to the teeth, suddenly rode up to my comrade 
and myself, and ordered us to surrender. Know- 
ing the danger of grasping my musket, I did 
not make the attempt, but rising suddenly, I 
seized the leader by the throat — " Look here, 
you thunderin' fool, if you don't sleep a little 
more quiet, you'll get punched in the eye ! " I'll 
never forgive Jim for spoiling that heroic dream. 

Mortimer Thompson, " Doesticks," has been 
rusticating in our regiment for two or three 
weeks, and is an "honorary member" of the 
Colonel's staff. He is continually scouring over 
the country, going out with the pickets, etc., and 
seems to be in love with soldiering. 

The three months' question has now "gone 
glimmering in the dream of things that were," 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 95 

and the regiment is running like clockwork. I 
am obliged to inform you that no men were shot 
for insubordination, at the risk, however, of 
spoiling the effect of some fine newspaper para- 
graphs. Our Adjutant proves himself a very 
active and able officer, and has become very 
popular in the regiment. The Colonel and the 
company officers are continually in receipt of 
letters from mothers, wives and fathers of 
soldiers soliciting discharges and furloughs for 
them. They seem to have a sort of vague idea 
that the officers can just summarily send the 
men home in a " Depart, go in peace " style. At 
most, all the Colonel can do is to make applica- 
tion for the discharges, which he knows very 
well would never be granted, unless in cases of 
marked physical debility. To give every letter 
received due attention, would require the in- 
dividual efforts of every officer in the regiment, 
for a discharge has to be " lobbied " through 
like a bill in the Legislature. Besides these ap- 
plications, there are innumerable applications 
for officers' positions. Young John Smith or 
some one has just got his education ; his father 
Mr. Smith or some one, a man of high respect- 
ability, wishes him to fight for the honor of his 
country's flag, but at the same time does not 
wholly undervalue the "loaves and fishes." 
Young John is described as not being altogether 



96 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

inexperienced in military, having been fourth 
corporal in the Tenth Wide Awakes, and has 
witnessed several encampments of the Smithville 
Blues, therefore an application is made that 
Smith may have an office, that eventually he 
may become General McSmith perhaps. Our 
regiment has in its non-commissioned officers 
and privates ample material for good officers, 
and it is really unjust to them that strangers' 
claims should be preferred to the claims of those 
whose previous stations and course of duty 
render them eligible to the positions. This is 
the principle which the Colonel evidently aims 
to observe in the selection of his officers. 

Our regiment now numbers eight hundred and 
thirty men, and some recruits we learn are now 
on their way here. We have had comparatively 
little sickness amongst us, and no deaths by dis- 
ease that I am aware of. Our band from Roch- 
ester has been discharged, and that seems to 
leave a vacant place in the regiment. But really 
a brass band, like an elephant, is a cumbersome 
sort of luxury to keep. They are not expected 
to fight, and yet a base drum for instance is not 
a handy thing to move with when cavalry are in 
pursuit. We have occasionally to suffer some 
loss from disability and a committee sits every 
Monday in Alexandria to receive applications for 
discharges. Aliquis. 



A VISIT TO MOUNT VERNON. 



" I 'HE next contribution from the pen of Ali- 
quis contains a charming description of 
his visit to Mount Vernon. 

Camp Mary, September 19th, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

Since my last letter, I have visited Mount 
Vernon, and have "done" all the sights and 
wonders of that place. This place is not now 
occupied by re*bels, but is occasionally visited 
by scouting parties of both sides. We enter the 
Mount Vernon farm long before we get to the 
mansion itself, which is surrounded by quite 
large forests. The farm, as originally held by 
the General, consisted of 7,600 acres now owned 
by a large number of persons, mostly of North- 
ern birth— from New York and New Jersey. 



98 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

The residence of Washington was indeed most 
beautiful. Nature here is profuse in her gifts, 
and the finest taste was exhibited in the plan 
and the decorations of the place — everything 
ample and spacious, and no doubt these mag- 
nificent surroundings have had their influence 
in preserving in Washington that noble love of 
nature and humanity for which he was so noted. 
Well, my friend and I come up to the mansion 
and are escorted by a lady of the Association, 
who informs us that we are requested to leave 
our muskets at the house while we go about the 
grounds. We take a suspicious look about us, 
and with a ghastly smile consent to let the lady 
keep our guns ; not, however, without some 
reluctance. We then, after taking another 
cautious look around us, proceed to weep duly 
over the tomb of Washington, taking the pre- 
caution, however, to assure ourselves that it is 
not the ice house, which much resembles it, and 
which we understand is sometimes ''lingered 
over" with much sadness by foreign tourists. 
The tomb is really in a sad condition, and rank 
weeds are intruding themselves through the iron 
grate that forms the door. There are near the 
tomb monuments of other members of the family, 
among them that of Judge Bushrod Washington. 
The out-houses around the grounds are about 
twenty-five in number, and not one but that had 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSHITH. 99 

the appearance of being constructed with a view 
to ornament as well as utility. After parading 
around the grounds very grandly, and imagining 
ourselves General Washington taking a walk 
before breakfast, we proceed to view the main 
house, which is much larger than I supposed. 
The first thing that strikes us is the key of the 
Bastile, hanging in a case on the wall. After 
informing another visitor that the Bastile was 
not a smoke house and that this was not the key 
of the smoke house, we pass through the ample 
rooms and see the old pictures, the holsters, the 
saddles, the surveyor's tripod, and finally the 
harpsichord made in Cheapside, London, which 
we essay to play upon, to the great amusement 
of " Mount Vernon's Association." We then ex- 
press a wish to go up stairs, but are forbidden 
by the attendant, who informs us that the upper 
story is occupied by the ladies, so we are denied 
the pleasure of seeing the antique specimens 
there congregated. 

I returned from Mount Vernon, hardly able 
to realize that I had been there — hardly able to 
realize that one was obliged to visit the tomb of 
our country's founder and Father, armed against 
a treason participated in by descendants of his 
own family —hardly able to realize that Wash- 
ington's remains lie in the neutral ground be- 
tween two mighty armies, each claiming to as- 



100 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

semble in defense of the principles for which he 
labored. 

The enemy now seem to be most near us in 
the direction of Fairfax. The Colonel, the Ad- 
jutant and Captain Palmer, with four dragoons, 
rode out yesterday until they saw an encamp- 
ment of them and some artillery, over beyond 
Bush Hill. While the party were there, General 
McClellan, at Fort Taylor, ordered some shells 
to be thrown at the enemy, which exploded not 
far from them. The enemy, the Colonel says, 
responded in defiance with a field piece. 

General McClellan comes around visiting the 
camps occasionally, and seems to be particularly 
interested in strengthening the left flank of the 
army. He was in our camp last Tuesday, and 
he, in company with Colonels Christian and 
Bartlett, visited the pickets and outposts of our 
brigade. Those acquainted with him report 
him to be a sociable, modest man, much addicted 
to joking and smoking, but of fine sensibilities. 

We are daily expecting to have our muskets 
exchanged for the Springfield rifles. Probably 
in a general engagement, a musket would be 
preferable to a rifle, as they become clogged less 
easily, and may be fired with greater rapidity ; 
but for scouting or skirmishing, rifles are far 
superior. Since I last wrote, one of our men has 
been very badly wounded, having been shot 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 101 

while wandering beyond our pickets on the 
Richmond road. Two men rose from behind a 
log, and coolly firing at him ran away them- 
selves, not daring to approach him after he was 
lying on the ground. This barbarous custom of 
shooting outposts does not seem to abate much, 
and they hunt each other like Indians. At one 
point the rebel pickets are on one side of a peach 
orchard and ours on the other ; so that between 
the two, the fruit does not get much stolen. At 
another point, the federal troops occupy a church 
in the day time, and the rebels at night ; and 
they both keep their hours with remarkable 
precision. 

The fort upon which we are at work every 
day will be by far the largest on this side of the 
river, and will cover several acres of ground. It 
is on a fine hill, commanding a view of Fort 
Ellsworth, Fort Taylor, and a rebel post on 
Mason's Hill. About two thousand men are at 
work with the picks and spades every day. 

Aliquis. 






SKIRMISH AT POHICH CHURCH. 

T AM indebted to Mr. Stephen V. Arrowsmith 
for the following account of a skirmish, in 
which two companies commanded by Captain 
Arrowsmith were engaged at a place called 
Pohich Church, where after a rough march of 
eight miles before daylight he surprises the 
enemy at daybreak and captures what was most 
desirable at that immediate juncture — an invit- 
ing breakfast. 

"At the skirmish of Pohich Church, he was 
the officer in command, and conducted two 
companies of his regiment over a new coun- 
try for a distance of seven or eight miles to sur- 
prise, and if possible, capture a company of 
rebel cavalry who were quartered in the church 
and who were robbing and plundering the Union 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 103 

farmers in the vicinity. On approaching the 
church, they found one of the rebel pickets, 
who was posted at some distance from the 
church, in order to guard against surprise. As 
soon as he could see by the imperfect light (for 
it was just at daybreak in the morning), that 
the approaching body were Unionists, he im- 
mediately rode in and gave the alarm to his 
companions, who were just in the act of sitting 
down to enjoy their warm breakfast of the best 
and most substantial fare that the neighbor- 
ing rich farms could produce. The surprise 
was complete. The alarm was given — the bugle 
sounded 'To Horse!' and they immediately 
mounted their horses and stood in readiness to 
resist an attack. 

" George drew his men up in line and gave 
the command ' Fire ! ' when several of the rebels 
were seen to roll from their horses, and the rest 
retreated across a field and dismounted behind 
a fence, where they fired several ineffectual 
volleys and fled. George, in the meantime, 
marched his men into the church, where they 
took possession of the still untouched and invit- 
ing breakfast and refreshed themselves after 
their long and tiresome march." 



A WAR CAMP IN AUTUMN. 

'T^HE season is now well advanced. The 
nights are getting cold, and fires are blaz- 
ing in the evening, amid the festivities of camp 
life. The bracing air revives the spirits of the 
soldiers and they are eager for a great army 
movement. The following letters are descrip- 
tive of an autumn war camp : 

Camp Franklin, Va., October 15th, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

The organization of divisions has again com- 
pelled us to move, so that I now almost regard 
myself a second Wandering Jew. We now seem 
to be situated right in the center of the army, 
near the Fairfax Seminary — have but little 
picketing to do, and no picking on intrench- 
ments, and the latter, I assure you, is regarded 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 105 

as no privation. Another brigade is now at 
work finishing Fort Lyon, and ours has again 
resumed drilling. 

The nights are now getting very cold, and 
every stitch of clothing available is put into use. 
You may realize what I mean by taking a single 
blanket and sleeping out on the piazza some 
night — any one who wishes to try it. Yet a 
great many soldiers in the army now are unable 
to get that single blanket even, though the 
department at Washington is evidently making 
great efforts to supply them. Overcoats are 
also very scarce in some of the regiments ; but I 
understand there is soon to be an abundant sup- 
ply of them. Comfortable camp fires are now 
made in the evening, and the bracing air seems 
to put the men around them in the best of spirits. 
In one direction I hear there is a lively quadrille, 
and a fiddler, with a vivid imagination, calling 
out, " Ladies change ! " and " Ladies to the 
right ! " with the utmost gravity. A great many 
in the regiment have fixed fire places in their 
tents, in the following manner : A trench is 
dug, four or five feet long, one end within and 
the other outside the tent. This is covered with 
stones or bricks, and a piece of pipe or a barrel 
connects with the opening outside, to carry off 
the smoke. At the inner opening a fire is made, 
which heats up a tent very well, and very rarely 



106 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

turns any smoke on the inside — unless, of course, 
an old hat or a board is found to be placed over 
the pipe outside. This is fine weather now for a 
great movement of some kind, and we suppose 
one is soon to be made. Last Saturday every 
one expected a battle ; the rebels had made a 
sudden advance, but they made as sudden a 
withdrawal immediately afterward. 

Most of the officers of this regiment on last 
fast day made a resolution to abstain from the 
use of all intoxicating liquors, which is at least 
one "forward movement" made. While at work 
on the fort, a gill of whiskey was dealt out to 
each man every day, which sometimes proved 
ruinous to all discipline and order. However, 
that is now all stopped. As a general thing 
there is but very little drunkenness to be seen 
through the army, considering the circum- 
stances. 

In obedience to orders recently issued, many 
horses and other valuable property which had 
been taken from the " Secesh " by our officers 
and men have been given up to headquarters, 
and some have thereby returned to their owners. 
Much of this sort of property, however, has been 
sold to the government in Washington, or ship- 
ped north. It seems to me to be the very worst 
feature of war — the deleterious influence it must 
have on the morals of a people, for the- distinc 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 107 

tion between military pillaging and stealing is 
often very fine and subtle. Those families just 
between the two armies have really a dangerous 
and harassed life. They endeavor, of course, to 
take a neutral course, which only subjects them 
to occasional marauds from both parties, and 
sometimes skirmishes around their dwellings. 
Many wealthy families have been driven to very 
coarse living, owing to the stoppage of com- 
munication with the towns, and begin to realize 
the folly of Virginia in making her soil the bat- 
tle ground. There is many an aristocratic family 
here who are secessionists, I believe, just for the 
sake of keeping their reputation as F. F. V.'s. 
Many of these, by the way, own dilapidated, 
worn out old farms, and manage* to keep up 
a sort of Turveydrop gentility only by selling 
negroes. However scarce the cash or shabby 
the servants, there must be a fine dwelling-house 
with a spacious door-yard and very showy en- 
trance. Here these hospitable Virginians sit and 
muse on the antiquity and respectability of their 
families, and show their visitors their household 
relics. I have seen at least a dozen pianos, each 
of which was the first ever brought into Virginia, 
and numerous clocks which had once belonged 
to George Washington. I think the old General 
must have had a way of giving furniture to all 
of his acquaintances, instead of locks of hair, 



108 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

when he was getting old, by the souvenirs I find. 
The Virginia gentleman is very hospitable, and 
if you'll only praise his horses, and not tamper 
with his negroes, he'll treat you finely, without 
asking your politics. At present his situation 
makes him very politic, and he treats officers of 
both armies out of the same bottle, and often 
the same day. So much for our " Secesh " ac- 
quaintances in Virginia. A broken-winded bu- 
gler is now making night hideous, by way of 
informing us that it is time the lights were out 
— so here goes ! Aliquis. 

Four days later he writes to his brother from 
the same place : " It is now nearly midnight 
and it is raining very hard, but I have now got 
fixed so that the weather does not bother me. 
I have a 'contraband' whom I got out beyond 
the pickets — a very faithful fellow, who has 
made a rude floor to my tent, and a kind of bed 
for me under which he sleeps contentedly. Be- 
sides the 'contraband' and the bed, the furni- 
ture of my tent consists of a trunk, a large box 
for company clothing, a stand, a fine armed chair 
which I got from the officer's quarters out at 
Pohich church in a foray which we made against 
the rebels — a box of tobacco, and sundry small 
articles. We have moved again since I last 
wrote and are no longer on the left flank, but 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 109 

near the centre of the army — a situation requir- 
ing not so much vigilance as the other. We are 
in Slocum's brigade and General Franklin's divis- 
ion, which you may as well notice in directing 
your letters. Kearney's New T Jersey brigade is 
not far from us and they have an excellent repu- 
tation. I saw Captain Mount, of Freehold, the 
other day in Alexandria where his company is 
performing guard duty. Our brigade has now 
of course got through working on Fort Lyon 
and has gone to drilling again. This afternoon I 
w r atched a balloon reconnoissance by some aero- 
naut, who came down just before dark near our 
camp." 

Camp Franklin, Va., Nov. ioth, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

Camp life is now dull, most excruciatingly 
dull. Where we are now situated we feel about 
as secure as we did at Elmira, and have almost 
forgotten what we came here for — the chief ob- 
ject of the campaign being, in appearance, to 
keep warm. All who have any good pretext are 
endeavoring to get leaves of absence, and some 
successfully. As for me, my wife and children 
are so provokingly healthy, and my appetite so 
wofully good, that I am obliged to remain here, 
disgusted with the general inactivity, and won- 
dering what will turn up next. 



110 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

I notice that the ladies of the North are al- 
ready responding to the numerous calls for 
blankets with a renewed liberality. The little 
town of Taberg, for instance, with not over five 
hundred voters, has sent Company E two im- 
mense boxes of useful clothing, consisting chiefly 
of blankets and socks. The former were parti- 
cularly acceptable, but not more so than a large 
number of bottles containing "hospital stores," 
known in times of peace as elderberry wine and 
brandy. The above large donation was, I learn, 
made by the ladies of Taberg and vicinity, 
under the auspices of a Mrs. Ingersoll of the 
above place. I was enthusiastically informed 
of this by Lieutenant Coventry, Charles Beach 
and Frank Ingersoll of Company E, whose 
happy faces were only equalled by my own, 
when I, being in the hospital, had inspected the 
aforesaid " stores." But there was also " a epi- 
sode," as Ward says, at my tent, followed by 
several more " episodes." I refer to blankets, 
bedticks, etc., which some unknown lady friends 
have sent me. I havn't heard a reveille since. 
The box from Mrs. Rockwell and her friends, I 
understand, is now in the express office. The 
patriotism of these ladies is only equalled by 
that of those who, remembering us that are sick, 
sent on the " hospital stores." 

Colonel Christian arrived in camp yesterday, 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. Ill 

having just returned from a two days' leave of 
absence ■ in New York city. It is strongly 
suspected that he has been perpetrating mar- 
riage, but no court-martial has yet been con- 
vened on the subject. It is earnestly hoped that 
no such deleterious example should be held up 
before our volunteers, nevertheless rumor says 
that he has really taken the " oath of allegiance 
10 the Union," and been duly "sworn into the 
service." 

Seven companies of our regiment have to-day 
just returned from the outposts, where they have 
been picketing for the last four days, some of 
them at Annandale. Some of the Twenty-third 
regiment were cut off while they were out, but 
ours were not seriously disturbed. 

Since I last wrote, we have changed the situa- 
tion of our camp merely to get out of the mud, 
into which we were fast sinking in our old place. 
The weather is still rather cool and rainy, and 
sometimes very heavy frosts are found in the 
morning. Many of the men now have little 
stoves in the tents, which are much better than 
our fancy fire-places, which have contracted a 
habit of smoking. 

Last Wednesday we were again paid off. 
This of course drew near the camp a long line 
of passing wagons, which appeared like a 
Hebrew funeral, old women with baskets and 



112 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

boys with pails, all sorts of sharks selling to the 
soldiers very poor specimens of everything at 
very high prices. Some, however, send nearly 
all their wages home. Aliquis. 

November 13th, 1861, another letter from 
Camp Franklin to his brother is as follows : 

" We are doing nothing much but drill and 
have no unusual excitement. Our commissions 
have just come and I am sorry to find that I'm 
not entitled to the place of Color-Captain, which 
I have been holding, and must go into the left 
wing. I find my commission dates fifth in order 
instead of third, as I had supposed. But it 
don't make much difference. Tom [his brother] 
and Captain Charley [a cousin] were over to 
see me about a week ago, and I since have made 
them a visit near Fort Corcoran. Tom is Com- 
missary Sergeant — the same as ever, a favorite 
with all and with the privilege of going every- 
where he pleases — says he is sure of a commis- 
sion, etc., and is well and hearty — rides a 
splendid horse and gets up in style. Charley 
has the prospect of being a Major before long, 
he tells me. On my way over there I saw Jim 
Story, who is a Corporal and was sick in the 
hospital, and George Bowne, who seems to have 
grown a great deal. Tom lent me a cavalry 
horse to come back with." 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 113 

Of course these extracts from private letters 
were never intended for publication, but after 
an elapse of thirty years I am sure they will be 
read with interest and gratification by his old 
friends and comrades. 



THE CHAPLAIN ARRIVES, 



POURING the summer the regiment was with- 
^^^ out any adequate religious aid or in- 
struction, and it was not until the month of 
October, 1861, that their excellent chaplain, Rev. 
Dr. D. W. Bristol, received his appointment 
and went on to the regiment. His influence, it 
is stated, was most happy and beneficial. The 
following extract is from a letter of Dr. Bris- 
tol, dated November 22d, 1861 : 

" Notwithstanding our difficulties, we have 
formed regimental church of some fifteen mem- 
bers. We lay aside our denominational pecul- 
iarities for the time being, and covenant to keep 
each other in the religious life. Several wan- 
derers have returned to the great Master, and 
one, we trust, has been converted. We have also 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 115 

organized a temperance society, which numbers, 
I judge, somewhere about eighty members. Our 
beginning, we think, taking into account all the 
circumstances, is a good one and encouraging." 



a soldier's thanksgiving. 



T N the following, Aliquis indicates why Gen- 
erals Smith and Jones can enjoy a military 
review so much more than the men in the ranks, 
and then proceeds to draw upon his poetic im- 
agination for a Thanksgiving dinner. 

Camp Franklin, Va., November 24th, 1861. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

Since I last wrote, I have been out on picket. 
This in cold weather is not so uncomfortable a 
duty as might at first be imagined, as nearly all 
the pickets are cantoned in deserted houses. 
Ours are nearly all stationed out at Annandale, 
where they are not much disturbed, except in 
their imaginations, perhaps, by some rebel artil- 
lery practising occasionally. On the day of the 
great review, last Wednesday, they kept up a 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 117 

constant cannonading; with what object I know 
not, perhaps by way of defiance. Our regiment 
was sent out on picket duty then, because we 
had "no new clothes to go to the show in ; " for 
Generals, you must know, like to see nice 
parades, to revive, I suppose, the recollections 
of boyish Fourths and " trainin's "; so I cannot 
tell you much about the great review, but I shall 
have to content myself with imagining. There 
were innumerable white gloves, epaulettes and 
brass buttons — the Generals were very dignified 
and paternal — the mounted officers very serene 
and fearless on their horses, spurring them for- 
ward on the ranks and then curbing them back- 
ward on the brass bands — the line officers very 
responsible and alarmingly straight in the back 
— the men in the ranks tired and sullen, and the 
brass bands very enduring to the end. The im- 
mense procession marched around the field, and 
then Generals Smith and Jones saluted each 
other and rode home, wondering, I suppose, 
why the men never seem to enjoy these reviews. 
The Twenty-sixth, I suppose, will be allowed to 
go to the next great parage, as we have just got 
a splendid new suit of clothes, overcoats and 
pants of dark blue cloth, and very neat forage 
caps. You are already aware that we have 
Sauer's brass band back again, which, with the 
drum-corps, facetiously called "boiler-makers," 



118 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

furnish us with an abundance of music. Every 
regiment in our brigade now has its brass band, 
so that one may be heard playing nearly any 
hour in the day. 

Dr. Bristol, our Chaplain, is laboring assidu- 
ously for the welfare of the men, and he has 
formed a temperance organization, which is 
gradually gaining in strength. It has been in- 
correctly stated that Colonel Christian was the 
President of this society. This was indeed 
proffered him, but he declined accepting it, as 
his military duties, he believed, would not al- 
low him to take the leadership in any collat- 
eral organization, though, of course, willing, as 
much as possible, to promote the cause of tem- 
perance. 

Well, the day is nigh at hand when the sov- 
erign people of New York are to return thanks 
to Divine Providence for the good digestive 
organs with which they are gifted, and test 
them accordingly. As this day approaches, I 
am thereat much affected ; for in the poultry 
line, I am conscious that they'll " miss me at 
home, yes, they'll miss me." I assure you many 
a Northern soldier thinks of his home in these 
times ; of the old family gatherings ; the great 
gastronomical exhibitions, concluding with a 
grand display of molasses candy in the evening. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 119 

Oft in the stilly night, 

Ere slumber's chain hath bound me, 
The thoughts of poultry bring the light 

Of other days around me — 
Thanksgiving feasts of childhood's years, 

The words of cheer then spoken — 
And then to think I'm penned up here, 

And all the hen-roosts played out long ago, 
And my hopes of getting a furlough completely 
broken. 

When I remember all 

The turkeys nocked together, 
I've seen around me in the Fall, 

Up North, in just this weather, 
I feel like one who treads alone 

Some dining-room deserted, 
Whose lights are fled, whose garlands dead, 

And seein' he's got there too late, 
Every darned joint of poultry has long since 
departed. 

The Fifth Maine Regiment, whose camp ad- 
joins ours, have just received twenty cases of 
turkeys from their native State, with which to 
do the honors of Thanksgiving day. I wouldn't 
like to be invited over there ! Oh, no, not a bit 
of it. It ain't my style ! (As Ward says, the 
above should be understood as irony.) 

Many blankets have been received here lately 
from private sources, which have greatly in- 
creased the comfort of the men, and many a 



120 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

grateful expression have I heard used when were 
received the liberal contribution from the ladies 
of Utica and Hamilton; quite a variety of cloth- 
ing has been sent through me to men in this 
regiment, for which thanks to all, the known 
and the unknown. 

More vigorous measures for the apprehension 
of deserters are, I understand, to be now taken 
by the government. Many are instigated to 
desert by secessionists in Alexandria, some of 
whom are now already ferreted out and arrested, 
as I learn to-day. Some have decamped from 
the Twenty-sixth since pay-day, and they will 
be retaken, I suppose, if possible. 

Money is very plentiful around Alexandria 
and Washington, and peddling of all kinds is 
very profitable. After a pay-day, when about 
twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars is distrib- 
uted through a regiment, it is astonishing to 
see with what reckless freedom money is ex- 
pended. Alexandria is now thronged with Jews 
and Yankees vying with the native citizens as to 
who shall carry off the greatest amount of army 
gold. Fancy stores and saloons are continually 
crowded, and finely dressed, polite gentlemen 
are keeping lucrative " club-rooms," more accu- 
rately, "gambling hells." Rabid secessionists 
are fast getting wealthy off of the Union army, 
and pocketing the new, hard gold with " 1861 " 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 121 

stamped on it. Still, I suppose, it can't be 
helped, while we remain here. It is the uni- 
versal wish that we may very soon go further 
south. Aliquis. 

A letter to his brother Stephen on January nth, 
1862, is addressed from Acquia Creek, Virginia. 
He writes: " I went out on another raid night 
before last and came back last night — about ten 
miles out. Nothing important resulted from it, 
but the march back was the worst one I ever 
was on. A cold rain was falling. The road was 
mostly through the woods, and the soil of clay. 
The mud was knee-deep nearly all the way, 
and so dark no one man could see the other. 
I've just enough of the ' raid business ' for the 
present. We had a very dull holiday week. 
Your skating frolic would have been all I could 
ask for. I, too, have had a letter from Tom. 
Soon as the Colonel gets back I shall make an 
effort to visit him. He lies about ten miles 
from here. Still in our comfortable quarters, 
with rumors of a move towards Warrenton, but 
nothing definite. Sigel has returned, and we 
are all ready. Where is the Twenty-ninth New 
Jersey? I'd like to know where to find them." 

A week later, from the same place, he again 
addresses his brother: 

" No letter from home this week. The Colonel 



122 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

has returned, and I am relieved from much of 
my responsibilty. About a third of our line 
officers have been compelled to resign from dis- 
ability, either mental or physical, so we're having 
a little revolution among us. To-night we're 
making an attempt to catch a * secesh ' that's 
aiding our men to desert. We have had about 
six desertions within a week. We've got a stool 
pigeon out to-night for him to practise on. We 
have been expecting to move daily for about a 
week, and we now expect to be ordered off to- 
morrow. In what direction no one knows. The 
weather is fine yet, and the nights beautiful. I 
occasionally pass my evenings with a family 
near here — a son, a major in secessia, but very 
pleasant. My love to all. George." 



FORT LYON. 

MN February 5th, 1862, he is again back at 
^-^^ Fort Lyon. He writes: " I was employed 
for twelve days as judge advocate on a general 
court martial, which, by the way, is a very labor- 
ious position. I, however, got $1.25 extra a day 
while I was thus at work, and was relieved from 
all other duty, which was the bright side of the 
picture. We have had the 'allotment rules' in 
circulation through the camp — I suppose you 
have heard of them — and I have directed twenty- 
five dollars a month of my pay hereafter to be 
sent to father, and I hope generally to make 
some additions by letter to this. I have not seen 
George Bowne since I was home ; his company, 
I learn, has gone over the river, and is — I do not 
know where." 

March 4th, 1862, he writes to Stephen from 



124 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Fort Lyon. He states: "We have had some ter- 
rible hurricanes and a great deal of rain, which 
has made tent life rather disagreeable, but I 
have weathered it all and kept my health. One 
of our company died about two weeks ago, the 
first since we have been in the service. I had 
the body embalmed and sent home to Utica last 
week. I haven't seen Tom in about a month, 
and he was well and happy then, and Charley 
was a major. I don't think now there is much 
chance of being sent away, but everything seems 
to indicate a movement of some kind here. Mc- 
Clellan's command now seems to be the only 
corps that is inactive, and I suppose its turn 
must soon come now. We are now attached to 
Heintzelman's division. We occasionally have 
some fine weather here now, but as a general 
thing high winds prevail. These hurricanes, if 
they don't blow down our tents and leave us 
suddenly out-doors, always twist the stove-pipes 
around so, that fire is a nuisance, and cooking 
out of the question. On such occasions we're 
obliged to eat 'what's left.' About two weeks 
ago we had a gale which tore trees and over- 
turned houses, and even baggage wagons, but I 
suppose we shall soon have some fine weather. 
Well, Stevey, write and tell me the news and 
don't wait for me. If anything happens to me, 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 125 

or we make any movement, I shall write as soon 
as feasible." 

Thus, beset by " hurricanes " and the lesser 
annoyances of " twisted stove-pipes," he con- 
soles himself with the hope of finer weather in 
the future. One of Captain Arrowsmith's vir- 
tues was his happy disposition and cheerful con- 
tentment with his surroundings, let them be 
what they would. He was never finding fault 
with anybody or anything. If he had reason to 
believe that his company would be made the 
color company, or the first in rank, he still ac- 
cepts it for the best when he finds it is other- 
wise ; though in politics of a party that is op- 
posed to the war, no word escapes him disparag- 
ing to the government or its policy. Whatever 
may have been the shortcomings of a superior 
officer, and sometimes they were certainly con- 
spicuous, he never refers to them. Though 
longing for an advance and the stirring events 
of an aggressive campaign, he is not impatient 
of inactivity. He is a true soldier, and accepts 
with philosophical equanimity every condition 
by which he is confronted. 

On March 28th, 1862, he writes to his brother 
from Fort Lyon, Virginia : 

" I suppose you have been anxious lately to 
know whether or not we have gone off on the 



126 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

expedition which embarked from Alexandria 
lately. You see by this, however, that I am in 
the same place, and may have to remain here 
yet some time. We are having splendid weather 
such as you have in May when you are planting, 
etc. To-day I took a long tramp over the coun- 
try, but did not see much, though, but desolation. 
The New Jersey cavalry is yet near us, having 
been left to do scouting duty around the left 
flank of the army. I saw George Bowne last 
Sunday and he was looking very well and hearty. 
I am not able to ascertain whether Tom's regi- 
ment went off with the expedition or not, and 
havn't seen him in some time. I send enclosed 
a portrait of our Surgeon, a good friend of mine 
in the regiment. I am still well and hearty. 
"Your affectionate brother, George." 



ALONG THE RAPPAHANNOCK, 



A FTER a break of several months, he re- 
sumes his letters to the Utica Herald. 

Camp Ricketts, May 12th, 1862. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

" Once more unto the breach, dear friends." 
The only way I can justify the above quotation, 
which I feel really conscientious about, is by re- 
minding you of the great breach there has been 
of late in the correspondence of your humble 
servant, the undersigned. Our camp above- 
mentioned is named after our present Brigadier- 
General, and is not suggestive of any particular 
disease prevailing in camp, as might at first ap- 
pear. 

After lying in a torpid state near Fort Lyon 
all winter, we finally moved out of our haunts 



128 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

about two weeks ago, and at present we infest 
the forests along the Rappahannock. The mov- 
ing of the regiment infused new life into all ; 
even the subscriber girded up his loins, paid 
some of his debts, disguised himself in a collar, 
and commenced the present letter. 

The Twenty-sixth is at present in a brigade 
commanded by General James B. Ricketts, form- 
erly captain of a regular battery which was cap- 
tured at Bull Run, when its commander, above 
referred to, was wounded and taken prisoner. 
He is said to be a genuine fighting man. As we 
are the senior regiment of the brigade we occupy 
the right in line of battle. The regiments bri- 
gaded with us are the Ninety-fourth New York, 
the Eighty-eighth and Ninetieth Pennsylvania. 

The greatest part of McDowell's army still lies 
on the Falmouth side of the river, one brigade 
only on the Fredericksburg side, though com- 
munication is free to and fro now by the pon- 
toon bridge lately thrown across. The rebels 
have a force a short distance from the city, and 
still use the railroad that runs to Richmond. 
Fredericksburg is a city that presents quite an 
ancient appearance, as, indeed, it is an old town, 
having before the war some pretentions to busi- 
ness activity. The country around is finely 
adapted to raising corn and wheat, and immense 
fields of the latter are growing thriftily, unin- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 129 

jured by the army, as waste and marauding are 
now the subject of very strict martial rules. 
Except when the land, after being run out, has 
been given over to scrub-oak and puny growth 
of pines, the country here presents a beautiful 
appearance — green plats sloping down towards 
the Rappahannock, which rolls peacefully along, 
with only the burned bridges and destroyed 
shipping to remind us of the war. Over in the 
city the places of business are mostly closed, and 
it presents a sombre aspect, with little groups 
of citizens lazily talking at the corners of the 
streets, the omnipresent sentinel, and a few 
ladies for whom you must step out into the 
street, as chivalry and their crinoline seem to 
entitle them to all the sidewalk. 

You find one public-house open — the Planter's 
Hotel — the proprietor of which is a very quiet 
man, who never seems to meddle with either 
politics or victuals, and the guest is annoyed 
very little with either. Here you may get some 
bacon, bread and butter, and tea, facetiously 
called a dinner, for fifty cents ; but you must 
make your own change when you pay for it, or 
you will receive in return perhaps a corporation 
shinplaster, or a Confederate States of America 
postage stamp, with a one-eyed picture of Jeff. 
Davis on it. I think some visiting cards or rail- 
road checks might make an excellent circulating 



130 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

medium here now, for almost anything in the 
shape of a bill will pass. Even the F. F. V.'s do 
not have many of the luxuries of the table at 
present. Whiskey is almost unknown in Fred- 
ericksburg, and appears only in saddened recol- 
lections. Bacon and corn bread are the articles 
of food mostly in use here, with some tobacco 
and a little abuse of the Northerners by way of 
dessert. The political leaders around have told 
me some pretty tough stories about us " Yan- 
kees," which I think they did not believe them- 
selves. Sometime since I was seriously asked 
by a lady in a rural district if the Yankee soldiers 
really did make a practice of murdering the 
children in the South, so as to eventually crush 
the rebellion in this manner. Upon my inform- 
ing her of the delight with which we participate 
in the above refreshing diversion, I think she 
really believed me, until my " silvery laugh " 
gave her to understand that it was a "goak." 
But the farmers here already begin to find that 
a Northern army is not so bad a master after all. 
The Southern pickets are stationed not far 
from the city, and skirmishes with them are 
of frequent occurrence, though it is generally 
believed that no very large force lies in front of 
us. What is proposed to be done with our corps 
it is impossible to say, but I suppose we shall 
push on soon. The railroad bridges between 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 131 

here and Acquia Creek, that were burned by the 
rebels on their retreat, are now nearly recon- 
structed, and we shall soon have easy communi- 
cation with Washington; and so we may expect 
a rush of merchants to this place, bringing with 
them all the benefits and evils of Northern en- 
terprise. 

Our regiment endured the winter with but 
little loss. We have had some tiresome marches 
since we came out of our quarters, yet our aggre- 
gate is yet eight hundred and forty men, which 
is larger, I understand, than that of any other 
New York regiment with the exception of the 
Forty-fourth, alias the Ellsworth regiment. The 
General this morning told the Colonel that we 
might hold ourselves prepared to act as skir- 
mishers at the first opportunity, so that alto- 
gether we are well satisfied with ourselves and 
in the best of spirits. Were it not that compli- 
ments paid to regiments were so stereotyped, 
and belong peculiarly to the " mutual admira- 
tion society," I would repeat some paid us since 
our arrival in this corps. We are at present 
using the little shelter tents, which are trans- 
ported from place to place on the backs of the 
men ; but in this mild weather we are taking 
the fortunes of campaigning quite comfortably. 
Camp inconveniences have, however, obliged 
me to violate a rule of press etiquette in the 



132 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

form of my manuscript, which I beg you will 
excuse 

Yours truly, Aliquis. 

Camp Ricketts, May 24th, 1862. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

I fortunately have better conveniences for 
writing than I had when I sent you my last. 1 
have mounted a steel pen en barbette on a pine 
stick, and am writing in a position which com- 
bines the posture of a Turk with the grace 
of the " What-is-it." We're having splendid 
weather now — cool and refreshing in the morn- 
ing, but quite warm about noon, bringing out 
snakes of various sizes and hue, to bask along 
the edge of the roads where we are encamped. 
These unprincipled reptiles will sometimes even 
" vex the drowsy ear of night" with their rust- 
lings among the leaves right around our tents. 
One of our officers, a few nights ago, was dis- 
covered in an undress uniform, making some 
very agile movements by a fire in front of his 
tent, in such a way that many supposed he was 
practising the "Indian War Dance." It was 
soon ascertained, however, that he was merely 
poking up a snake that had been sharing his 
hospitality, while he was asleep, by entering his 
tent and occupying a part of his blanket. Don't 
understand, for a moment, that we're afraid of 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 133 

snakes. By no means; but then, such proceed- 
ings are unmilitary, to say the least, towards an 
officer. Near this place is a stream called "Rat- 
tlesnake Creek." I don't care (?) but then I wish 
they'd give places more euphonious names. 

All the country around here, if divided up in 
smaller farms, and worked by some good North- 
ern "mud-sills," could be brought under the 
finest cultivation. As it is, some of it is very 
productive, and will produce almost anything. 
Adjoining our camp is a wheat field, containing, 
I should think, about seventy-five acres. Its 
rank growth is undisturbed by the soldiery, for 
no one is allowed to walk through it, which cer- 
tainly no soldier that had ever been a farmer's 
boy could have the heart to do. Most of the 
men who were left behind here, by the Southern 
army, I think, are the " first families of Vir- 
ginia" — that is, I think, they were the first men 
that ever emigrated here, and have been here 
ever since. Very few young, able-bodied men 
are to be found, and these all have their stories 
to relate of their perilous escapes from the 
Southern cavalry. 

About half a mile from our camp is General 
Ricketts's headquarters — a fine mansion, with 
its owner, a rank secessionist, still occupying a 
part of it. A flag-staff and flag appear in the 
yard now, to the evident disgust of the rebel 



18-t LIEUTENAXT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

host, who lately called it a dishrag, in the hear- 
ing of a sentry there. It requires all the patience 
that our men are possessed of to restrain from 
acts of violence, when some protected traitor 
thus speaks of the flag and cause for which 
they are periling their lives. But, I suppose, it 
is all for the best. 

Mrs. Ricketts is still with her husband ; and 
as she rides around the brigade with him, she is 
vociferously cheered by the men, of whom she 
is the idol. Her romantic journey to Richmond, 
to join her husband in his painful imprisonment, 
already belongs to history, and is the theme of 
abler pens than mine. Her tale of the Rich- 
mond prisons, bringing to light the character of 
many of the most prominent Southern generals 
and Northern patriots, is of the most thrilling 
interest, and throws far in the shade the narra- 
tive of the Baroness Reidesel as a matter of his- 
torical romance. Soldiers of this corps, who 
were then prisoners of war, are now frequently 
seen at headquarters, returning thanks for her 
kindness towards them in those hours of suffer- 
ing ; and letters, expressive of gratitude, are 
coming to her almost daily. 

General Ricketts is now in command of a fine 
brigade, who all hope, some day, to aid him to 
enter Richmond in triumph. 

General Shield's division arrived here last 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 135 

night, very footsore and weary. Our corps is 
now complete, and we are expecting orders to 
march almost hourly, as we are held in constant 
readiness. Our division was paraded this after- 
noon before President Lincoln and Secretary 
Stanton, with the requisite amount of gilt, white 
gloves, music and cheering. The President was 
quite a curiosity to our secesh neighbors, who, I 
suppose, expected to see him in his shirt sleeves 
with an axe on his shoulders. We regard Lin- 
coln's visit to this corps as the forerunner of an 
immediate advance. 

Our division is commanded by General Ord, 
of Drainesville notoriety, an officer of high re- 
pute, who, it is said, will take the right of the 
corps in the advance. He rides a restless bay 
horse, which, like the famous cork-leg in the 
song, seems determined never to stop. This 
animal has a peculiar way of sideling up against 
fences and switching his tail in the faces of " the 
staff" and backing into the crowd, and making 
himself generally "around." Why am I so par- 
ticular in describing this horse ? Because you 
know an officer more by his horse than his 
"general orders," and I know of no better way 
of giving an impression of the nervous, grim, 
old Son of Mars who rides him. 

Fredericksburg is beginning to look more 
lively. Mr. Hunt of New York, alias Farini, 



13(5 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

the tight-rope walker, has opened the Shaks- 
peare House, which, if I was a " penny-a-liner," 
I should say was so named because it was the 
birthplace of the great English poet, but as it is, 
I shall not venture it. Some fine stores are 
opened, and the necessaries of life, beef, beer, 
billiards, etc., are available. The railroad bridge 
across the Rappahannock is guarded with the 
greatest strictness, and the destruction of it 
would be the cause of great delay. My next I 
hope to write in a different camp. 

Aliquis. 



TALKS WITH PRISONERS. 



A FORCED march from Fredericksburg in 

the hope of surprising Stonewall Jackson, 

brings the brigade to Front Royal, near the 

Shenandoah river, from which place comes the 

next letter. 

Front Royal, Va., June 13th, 1862. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

This morning we received a mail, for the first 
time in two weeks, and a very large mail it was, 
being escorted into camp in a baggage wagon. 
I went to work immediately to read my pile of 
papers, but have stopped in disgust as I got 
them mixed up somehow and found myself read- 
ing regimental autobiographies over three or 
four times, getting a vague idea that all the 
Oneida Countv volunteers had been killed, 



138 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

wounded or d-eified in McClellan's army. But 
all honor to the soldiers of Central New York. 
We received the record of their noble exploits 
in the late battles with a feeling of pride, and 
only regret that we could not have shared their 
fortunes in the grand army of McClellan. 

Since I last wrote we have undergone some 
severe privations, though we have been guilty 
of no serious "breach of peace" under our 
sweet-tempered General McDowell. The pros- 
pect of entrapping Jackson sustained us on a 
forced march from Fredericksburg. At Front 
Royal we were much chagrined to find that we 
had arrived too late, and were booked for a 
bivouac in a cold rain storm, without either 
blankets, overcoats or tents. Worse than all, 
we in the advance crossed the Shenandoah and 
were cut off from our supplies by the destruc- 
tion of both bridges, and the fierceness of the 
torrent prevented all intercourse; and still the 
rain kept falling, falling, for three days and 
nights, and yet scarcely anything to eat. How- 
ever we not only fasted but preyed — upon the 
live stock in the vicinity, the excessive use of 
which has caused some sickness since. Finally 
the storm ceases, and after various experiments, 
resulting in the death of two men, a rope ferry 
is constructed, and we recross the river. It was 
"sic transit" however with many of us, though 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 139 

a few days' rest since has brought the regiment 
to its former state of health and buoyancy. 

Our pickets took many of Jackson's stragglers 
prisoners while over the river, with whom I had 
a good opportunity to converse, as I had also 
with those confined in the buildings in the vil- 
lage. They all pretend to be sanguine in the 
belief that the confederacy is sure to succeed, 
and that the Northern army can never entirely 
conquer Virginia. They do not appear to claim 
that the Southern soldier is in any way superior 
to the Northerner, and the " one Confederate to 
five Federal" idea, of which we heard so much 
at the opening of the war, is entirely exploded. 
They rely, however, on the dogged resolution to 
fight to the last, their knowledge of the country 
and the mountain roads, and their superior ad- 
vantages for obtaining and giving information of 
our movements which a war in their own coun- 
try affords them. I am informed that the citi- 
zens boast of violating the oath of allegiance, 
and regard it as a standing joke. Strange to 
say, in their devotion to treason the men appear 
not to " fear God " nor the ladies to " regard 
man." The other day when I went to see the 
captives in turn, I found numbers of ladies there 
distributing food and bouquets among them, 
and eyeing me askance w T ith a malicious criti- 
cism that made me feel much as I did years ago, 



140 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

when I first went into company with a long-tailed 
coat. I was tempted to turn my coat wrong 
side out, take a chew of tobacco, and pass for a 
" secesh " myself ; but I didn't — the pie was all 
distributed there, anyway. 

I had quite a little political conversation with 
one fellow, a complete gentleman, and of much 
intelligence; yet even he had some odd ideas of 
the North, and complained that the manufac- 
tures and railroads and internal improvements 
of the loyal States were the result of favor shown 
them by the Federal government to the detri- 
ment of the South. I tried to undeceive him, 
but unsatisfactorily to myself. The fact is, the 
" Union feeling in the South," and the deception 
of the masses by the secession leaders are hardly 
worth, I think, the attention that they elicit 
from Northern politicians. The bayonet is the 
most successful persuader. You remember when 
we were school boys we could always perceive 
much more clearly how naughty it was to play 
truant after being soundly thrashed for it. 

The wounded from two of Shield's Brigades 
were brought into Front Royal to-day in a long 
train of army wagons. They present a pitiful 
sight, but most of them will recover. Though 
jolted along over rough roads in these heavy 
vehicles, hardly a groan ever escapes their lips, 
and they bear their sufferings with the most 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 141 

heroic fortitude. But do not believe all that you 
read of rebel barbarities to wounded soldiers. 
Those of the First Maryland Regiment that we 
found quartered in houses around here tell no 
such stories. In the heat of action, when the 
brain is frenzied with the excitement of battle, 
these are possibilities, but when the firing is 
over, the soldier, in contemplating a wounded 
enemy, is seldom governed by his ideas of State 
rights or the Missouri compromise. 

I wish we could always have as fine a mail as 
that of to-day. I say unto you all, write. Any- 
thing in the form of a note is acceptable, and I 
would even read a letter from Gerrit Smith or 
Giddings, if it was addressed to me now. Our 
friends — and creditors — must not wait for their 
epistles to be always promptly answered, as 
camp inconveniences often defeat our best in- 
tentions. Not unfrequently our only means of 
getting a letter to the office is through the "un- 
derground express," superintended by Richards, 
the active correspondent of the Telegraph. All 
ye who failed to "knit stockings" for the volun- 
teers during the winter, redeem yourselves by 
writing letters to them this summer. 

Aliquis. 

June 15th, 1862, writing from Centreville, Vir- 
ginia, to his brother he says : " I am writing in 



142 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

the Quartermaster's office, as we have formed 
no regular camp, but are out in the field in the 
sun. We have been on the move for three days, 
marching about fifteen miles a day. It is very 
warm, dusty and disagreeable. It seems a good 
part of the army is coming here, and I expect 
we shall have another Bull Run. We shall go 
into it with good spirits at least, and God may 
grant us a victory the third time, though the 
enemy has doubtless the largest army again. I 
am in command and would rather like a battle 
in some respects under the circumstances. Still 
it may run along so for weeks yet." 

" The move for three days " above referred to 
was from Front Royal to Centerville, a distance 
of about forty-five miles. Captain Arrowsmith's 
expectation of another battle of Bull Run in this 
vicinity was very soon to be literally verified. 



ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 



JUNE 25th, 1862, he writes from Manassas 
Junction, Virginia, to his father announcing 
an important event in his career, as follows: "I 
was chosen to-day by our new Brigadier-General 
Tower, to act as his Assistant Adjutant-General, 
and have been very busy with him all the even- 
ing. I have some prospects of being confirmed 
in the position, which I sincerely hope for, as it 
would increase my pay considerably, though not 
my rank, and also make me a mounted officer ; 
but it's all uncertain yet. I am well and vigor- 
ous." 

A few weeks afterwards, on August 19th, 1862, 
he received his commission, signed by Edwin M. 
Stanton, Secretary of War, with orders to report 



144 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

in person for orders to Brigadier-General Z. B. 
Tower.* 

General Z. B. Tower was assigned to the com- 
mand of the second brigade, second division, 
third corps, of the army of Virginia, about the 
last of June, 1862. General Ricketts, the division 
commander, recommended to General Tower, 
Captain Arrowsmith for the position of Assistant 
Adjutant-General, as an intelligent, educated, 
soldierly officer of good repute in his regiment, 
and the best-fitted person of his age in the bri- 
gade for this important place on the staff. Upon 
his appointment he became a permanent mem- 
ber of General Tower's military family, and his 
chief assistant. Having served since the begin- 
ning of the war, his experience was very valuable 
to him. 

June 28th, 1862, installed in his new position, 
he writes his brother from Manassas Junction, 
Virginia : 

"I have better conveniences for writing now, 
since I have been on the General's staff, as I 
have a large tent with a desk and a bed in it all 
to myself. As I mess with the General, who is 
quite an epicure, I live about as well now as I 
ever did in my life, and this eating with silver 
knives and forks scarcely seems like soldiering at 

* Appendix, Note C. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 145 

all. However, when we get to marching it will 
not be so lovely again. I have a horse, etc., fur- 
nished by the government, and altogether I have 
a pretty comfortable time of it. I don't know 
how long I shall act in this capacity, but prob- 
ably some time. I had a telegraph dispatch 
this afternoon from Tom, who wished to meet 
me in Washington this evening. It was impos- 
sible for me to comply with his request, as the 
most rigid orders are in force with reference to 
leaves of absence." * * * * 



A SUMMER RESORT ENCAMPMENT. 



A BOUT the middle of July Captain Arrow- 
smith is with his brigade at Warrenton, 
near the Warrenton Springs, which we will learn 
about in the next letter. 

Warrenton, Ya., July 14th, 1862. 
To tlie Editor of the Utica Morning Herald : 

During the hot weather, and lately, we have 
been sojourning at the celebrated summer resort 
of Warrenton, occasionally taking a trip to the 
Sulphur Springs for the sake of health. War- 
renton is decidedly one of the finest towns I 
ever saw, with fine mansions, flanked by lovely 
gardens, and streets well shaded. This was a 
favorite resort of Washingtonians in the warm 
weather, and the register-book of the Warren 
Green House would be a great treasure in the 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 147 

eyes of an autograph collector. Like all other 
watering places, Warrenton was remarkable for 
the sparing manner in which the frequenters 
thereof used water as a beverage. Here the Con- 
gressional Representatives of Southern chivalry 
used to assemble, and probably plot the destruc- 
tion of the Union over chivalrous drinks of 
whiskey. From this place did the gay visitors 
start afternoons to go to the Springs to taste 
some of the water, feeling, at the same time, with 
remorse, that the habit of drinking water was 
growing upon them, and winding its coils around 
them. The favorite mode of getting to the 
Springs was in an "extra" stage, driven by 
one William Smith, who, in time, became better 
known as "Extra Billy Smith," and drove him- 
self not only into a fortune, but into a political 
station. Then, when he got into the nice, big 
house, with the double iron fence in front that 
now graces Warrenton, the sobriquet stuck to 
him still, as if saying to the traveler: "Billy 
Smiths may be numerous; but here, sir, is some- 
thing a little extra." Well, Billy is now in Rich- 
mond, helping to kill the Yankee invaders; but 
in front of Billy's mansion in Warrenton may be 
seen a sentry, in blue uniform, protecting Billy's 
property from the inroads of the "mud-sills." 
In view of the above service rendered, Billy's 
wife and daughters tolerate the sentry. 



148 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

General Tower has his headquarters at the 
residence of another Smith (ordinary quality), 
who is one of the editors of the Richmond 
Enquirer, and is quite generally known through 
Virginia. Among some old books and papers in 
the house, I find some sketches and descriptions 
of persons and places in the country, made dur- 
ing the travels of one Mrs. Anne Royall, who, 
notwithstanding the disregard which she con- 
stantly shows to religion and English grammar, 
gives some exceedingly minute descriptions. I 
am informed this female Willis once conducted 
a sort of paper in Washington, and treated the 
public to accurate descriptions of all celebrities. 
With those who patronized her "all the men 
were brave, and all the women were beautiful ; " 
but, alas, for those who refused to yield to the 
blackmail imposed. Among the families men- 
tioned in Warrenton by Mrs. Royall is that of 
the Lee, which being descended neither from 
Pocahontas nor Washington, is, of course, in the 
lineal stock of "Light Horse Harry" of the 
Revolution. The female who now supports the 
dignity of the Lee family owns a farm which 
supplies the soldiers with much fruit and forage. 
Altogether, this is a fine country and provender 
is abundant ; but I could have forgiven the na- 
tives for a great deal of their treasonable con- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 149 

duct, if they had only left a little larger supply 
of ice for us. 

The Warren Green Hotel in the town is now 
taken for a hospital, for which it is finely adapt- 
ed, and will afford good accommodations for the 
sick of the whole army here. This is a step in 
the right direction, for so far from being of any 
sanitary use before being taken, there had not 
been a bar properly kept in it for months. The 
regiments around here are in good state gener- 
ally speaking as regards health, the Twenty- 
sixth New York especially. After a march, or a 
change of location and water, a great many will 
always be a little unwell, but no serious epidem- 
ics are prevailing. Major Jennings has been 
quite unwell for the last few days, but is steadily 
recovering. 

Our mails still come in a very irregular man- 
ner, but I assure you they are eagerly received. 
There seems but very little system and certainty 
in the matter, and I would caution all those 
who are indebted to me to refrain from sending 
money to me in any very large sum through 
this medium. A breach of this rigid rule might 
occasion it to come into the hands of some un- 
principled robber who would squander it in an 
unprofitable manner. 

We quite frequently see Richmond papers in 
town, and it is strongly suspected that a regular 



150 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

mail is received and sent here. It is possible it 
may be so, as there has been no severity shown 
as yet by the government towards spies, and 
they run but little risk. This is really the most 
civil war ever heard of. Out at Front Royal, 
Bell Boyd boasts and jokes of her participation 
in Colonel Kennedy's defeat in the very face of 
the Generals, and laughs pleasantly at the idea 
of being arrested. To check this system of 
espionage some one should be hung — some guilty 
person should be the example if possible ; but 
one thing is certain, some one should be pendant 
for the good of the Union. 

I have just received, by the way, the Utica 
papers, and get much more warlike enthusiasm 
from reading of the determination of Central 
New York to send still more troops into the 
service than in witnessing the ditll routine of 
this army of occupation. It seems as though the 
strong and persevering effort made in Utica can 
not be a failure, with such a man proposed for 
commander as Captain Pease. 

No man can be without the gratitude of his 
fellows that volunteers at the present crisis. In 
the army now in the field doubtless some have 
enlisted for ambition, for adventure, for money, 
some perhaps because they didn't get married 
when they wanted to, and some because they 
did ; but the great novelty of the war is now 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 151 

over, and no one can doubt, I think, the motives 
of those who will meet the last earnest call for 
troops, to fill up the gaps in the army made by 
disease and by the bullet. 

I know not what will be done with us here, 
but suppose we shall push on towards Gordons- 
ville. Generals Banks and Sigel were both in 
Warrenton a few nights ago. McDowell I have 
not seen for weeks, and I guess that it is only 
at " Willard's " that he is visible to the naked 
eye. Nor has Pope yet made his appearance. 
General Ricketts and General Tower are, how- 
ever, constantly with their commands, and hard 
at work keeping everything in readiness for 
marching orders. One hundred and forty rounds 
of cartridges are always kept on hand, and the 
baggage trains in order, but still we are in statu 
quo, and I might add ante bellum. 

Aliquis. 



NEW DUTIES. 

T7ROM Waterloo, Virginia, August 4th, 1862, 
in a letter to his brother Stephen, he 
writes : 

" I believe I must tell you something of the life 
and duties of an Assistant Adjutant-General (an 
awkward title, by the way). Well, I have to issue 
and keep on file all general and special orders 
and circulars, transact all the business corre- 
spondence of the General and keep on file all 
letters received and sent, make out all the week- 
ly and monthly returns of the brigade, make 
all details, keep the countersigns and signals in 
my possession and issue them daily on the field, 
act as aid-de-camp to the General, transmit or- 
ders and direct the columns. Three or four 
hours' work in the day, though, generally does 
all my business, though it's quite confining. ' I 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 153 

have bought a magnificent horse, for which I've 
paid what will appear a pretty steep price to 
you, two hundred dollars. However, I would 
not sell him for that now. He is a large sorrel 
horse, rather showy, a good jumper, eight years 
old and sound. I've now had him about a 
month. By the way, I have a clerk allowed me, 
and an orderly to take care of my horse, besides 
my waiter, whom (the latter) I have to pay my- 
self, as usual. So I've told you now pretty much 
all about my present status. I was offered, not 
long since, a lieutenant-colonelcy in one of the 
New York regiments, that has not yet scarcely 
begun to make any show, but I refused it, as I 
saw they would expect me to work about and 
spend money for the rest; and then, I reflected, 
that being green the regiment would always be 
kept in the background, which I'm tired of. I'm 
well, have plenty to eat, and generally a good 
place to sleep, which is saying considerable for 
a soldier. I wish I could be home awhile in the 
market season, though. We move in the night, 
I'm told. Good night ! " 

" P. S. — Marching orders come." 



CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 



^HHE battle of Cedar Mountain was fought on 
* the ninth of August, 1862. It was Banks 
against Ewell, each with about eight thousand 
men. For awhile the fight was in favor of the 
national troops, but rebel reinforcements coming 
up, Banks retreated before the enemy. Pope 
was only a few miles away; he hurried up and 
checked the pursuit. Arrowsmith was with 
Ricketts's division of Pope's forces. His brigade 
saw the main part of the fight, but was engaged 
only in the last of it. Captain Arrowsmith ac- 
quitted himself so well as to earn favor from 
General Tower. He thus speaks of the battle 
in a letter to his brother from Mitchell Station, 
dated August 17th, 1862: "Our brigade was 
not in the main part of the fight at all, though 
we had a good sight of it. We were on the 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 155 

right of Ricketts's division, which you know 
came up in time to check the rebels after they 
had begun to drive Banks. When we came on 
the ground, Banks's exhausted troops passed to 
the rear of us and all was quiet for some time. 
About midnight they came up about two or three 
hundred yards from us and commenced shelling 
us. Two of our batteries commenced at them 
so sharply that in about half an hour they com- 
pletely silenced them, having killed nearly all 
their horses and made great havoc generally. 
This was all of the fight that we were really in. 
Our division lost one hundred and six, killed and 
wounded. Since the battle General Tower has 
nominated me to the Secretary of War for con- 
firmation in my position, at which I am much 
delighted. No time to write more. Good-by ! " 



SECOND BULL RUN. 



ENGAGEMENTS at Rappahannock, Thor- 
^* oughfare Gap and Second Bull Run (or 
Groveton) quickly followed. The two former 
were essentially artillery engagements. In the 
last-named battle Captain Arrowsmith was in the 
thickest of the fight, and regardless of danger, 
discharged his duties with great efficiency. His 
brigade was the first thrown into the action by 
General Ricketts. General Tower was in com- 
mand and led the advance. Fairly enveloped 
by the advancing enemy, the loss of men was 
very severe, infantry upon three sides of them 
pouring in its deadly volleys, and artillery firing 
upon them from a hill close by. Captain Ar- 
rowsmith's duties covered a large area, trans- 
mitting orders from one point to another, and 
directing columns. His slouch hat, straight 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 157 

black hair, swarthy face and erect figure made 
him a conspicuous object, dashing on horseback 
in every direction, inspiring by his example the 
courage of the Union soldiers and a target for 
the enemy's sharpshooters. General Tower fell 
wounded seriously while gallantly leading his 
brigade. " Captain George Arrowsmith," wrote 
a correspondent of the New York Tribune, " for- 
merly of the Twenty-sixth New York, but pro- 
moted by General Tower as Assistant Adjutant- 
General of his brigade for gallantry, showed 
great bravery on the field. His praise is in the 
mouth of every one. At one time he is said to 
have taken General Schenck for a major, and im- 
mediately rode up and led two regiments, into 
the fight, amid a shower of grape and canister." 
Fessendon, a brother officer on General Tower's 
staff, was killed. The loss of the brigade was 
terribly severe. Captain Arrowsmith's escape 
without a wound was almost miraculous. One 
bullet passed through his hair, another struck his 
sword scabbard, and a third had buried itself in 
the folds of his blanket, which he discovered at 
the close of the fight. It was here he won for 
himself the sobriquet of "the young lion." A 
hastily written letter to his father dated Septem- 
ber ist, 1862, from Centreville, Virginia, briefly 
refers to the battle. " Our brigade got into a 
terrible fight in the battle of the day before yes- 



158 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

terday. We found ourselves in a trap where 
there was infantry on three sides and artillery 
firing on us from a hill. The brigade has lost be- 
tween five hundred and one thousand men. I 
write this to inform you that I'm not hurt. Gen- 
eral Tower was wounded and was sent to Wash- 
ington yesterday. Fessendon, of the staff, was 
shot dead. The closest shave I made was a bul- 
let through my hair, though one hit my sword 
scabbard, and when I lay down for the night, a 
ball dropped out of my blanket, that I had kept 
folded on the front of my saddle. Will never 
get in a worse place. Very busy." 

After three weeks of almost incessant fighting 
with the army of General Pope, marching and 
countermarching from Cedar Mountain back 
across the Rappahannock, thence to Thorough- 
fare Gap, thence to Manassas ; back to Cen- 
treville, and thence to Chantilly, where the gal- 
lant Kearney of New Jersey fell, his physical 
powers were reduced to a degree that he was 
unable to withstand a shock sustained by a fall 
of his horse, and upon the recommendation of 
General Tower, who lay seriously wounded in 
Washington, he accepted a leave of absence for 
the purpose of recruiting his weakened frame. 

The following is the letter of General Tower, 
requesting a furlough for Captain Arrowsmith : 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSM1TH. 159 

Washington, September 15th, 1862. . 
To General Cullom : 

If you can do so consistently I wish you would 
give my Adjutant-General a leave to go home. 
I have no doubt that it will hasten his recovery 
and return to duty. He is an officer of the true 
stamp and mettle and will doubtless return the 
instant he is able to resume his duties. For the 
past two months he has continued on duty when 
most officers would have reported sick, and has 
done active field duty when it was very painful 
for him to sit upon his horse, so anxious was he 
to be at his post of duty and danger. Now it is 
best that he should try to effect his recovery be- 
fore the injury becomes more difficult to cure. 
I therefore ask this indulgence for him. 

With respect, your most obedient, 

Z. B. Tower, 

Brig. Gen. Bvt. 

Owing to his wounds, General Tower was 
compelled to give up the command of the Second 
Brigade, which ended Captain Arrowsmith's 
service upon his staff. 

Under date of September 4th, 1862, we find 
Captain Arrowsmith at Brown's Hotel in Wash- 
ington, from which place he addresses his brother 
Stephen, as follows : " I wrote a day or two ago 
informing you that I was safe, but as I had to 



160 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

send it by the 'underground railroad,' to avoid 
Halleck's order, I feared lest possibly it might 
be intercepted. I have been in the battles of 
Rappahannock, Thoroughfare Gap, and Satur- 
day's battle of Bull Run. In the latter our bri- 
gade, through a blunder, was badly cut to pieces. 
General Tower was badly wounded, and is now 
at Willard's. Fessendon was killed. I escaped 
unhurt, but was reported to be killed, and my 
Washington friends are all much surprised to 
see me. I woke up the morning after the fight 
and found myself quite a hero on a small scale. 
Colonel Christian did not go into the fight. 
Poor Leonard, second lieutenant of my old com- 
pany, was shot dead. Our brigade is now over 
the other side of Munsen's hill, about five miles 
from Washington. I am staying in Washington 
a day or two by the doctor's advice, to cure up a 
slight injury I received from my horse falling on 
me during the battle. Tell me, are you drafted ? 
Tom is well. I have had no mail for about two 
weeks, and I have a lot of letters somewhere, I 
expect. When I came into town this morning, 
I had not changed my clothes in three weeks, 
and was as ragged and dirty as a beggar. For- 
tunately, I had money enough to make a trans- 
formation. My love to all." 



TRIBUTE FROM GENERAL TOWER. 



/^ENERAL TOWER is still living, residing 
^-^ at Cohassett, Mass., and in a kindly letter 
of recent date to Stephen V. Arrowsmith, he 
thus refers to the service of Captain Arrowsmith 
upon his staff: "During the two months that 
the brigade was under my command, whether in 
camp, on the march or engaged in battle, Cap- 
tain Arrowsmith, with professional pride and 
untiring devotion, met all the requirements of 
his position as Assistant Adjutant-General, to 
my entire satisfaction. Now, after the lapse of 
so many years, I am glad to have the oppor- 
tunity to bear testimony to his marked soldierly 
qualities, his coolness, self-command and gal- 
lantry of action, which made him one of the 
most promising of the young officers of my 
command. General Pope's campaign involved 



162 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

the advance of his army to the Rapidan in the 
vicinity of which, after the battle of Cedar 
Mountain, its several corps were concentrated — 
the subsequent falling back north of the Rappa- 
hannock before General Lee's advance — holding 
that river as a line of defence beyond Waterloo 
bridge for many days, thus delaying the enemy's 
progress and giving time for a portion of the 
Peninsula forces to unite with General Pope's 
army — the affairs of Bristoe Station and Thor- 
oughfare Gap, the battles of August 29th and 
30th at Groveton, and the partial engagement 
of September 1st at Chantilly — the last two 
weeks of this campaign, with its marches and 
countermarches by day and night, through rain 
and over mud roads, or under the intense heat of 
an August sun, in a malarious district and with 
frequent conflicts with the enemy, were a severe 
test of the physical endurance of the command 
and rapidly diminished its numbers, by exhaus- 
tion and disease, incident to overwork and ex- 
posure. Such a campaign might well shake the 
resolution of soldiers, unaccustomed by long ser- 
vice to like hardships, so that those who stood 
bravely to their colors from the beginning to the 
end of the campaign, deserve and should receive 
the highest commendation for their fortitude and 
courage, though they were eventually forced 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARKOWSMITH. 163 

back, overmatched by an enemy elated by recent 
successes on another field. 

" It is my recollection that Captain Arrow- 
smith throughout these trying services never 
yielded to overwork of any kind, and was never 
absent for a day from his post of duty, but was 
actively efficient unto the end, and on every bat- 
tle field he evinced the cool gallantry to which 
I have already given my testimony. 

" Having been severely wounded in the battle 
of August 30th, I was compelled to give up the 
command of the Second Brigade and part with 
my staff officers, to whom I had become much 
attached during their short but eventful service 
and association with me. Not one of those 
three officers who were so constantly by my side 
during the campaign, and all sat at the same 
table with me, survived the war. The brigade 
sergeant, Abraham Cox, died at Lookout Mount- 
ain ; Lieutenant Samuel Fessendon, my aid, a 
gallant youth, fell mortally wounded in the bat- 
tle of Groveton; and your brother, having served 
on many battle fields, was killed at Gettysburg. 
I heard of his death with pain and sorrow, for 
he was a valued friend, a man of worth and a 
sterling soldier. I am, very truly yours, 

" Z. B Tower, 
li £vt. Maj. Gen I, U. S. Army" 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL. 

TN JUNE, 1862, Melville D. Landon {Eli Per- 
kins), a Washington correspondent of the 
press, wrote to State Senator John J. Foote, a 
leading Republican of Hamilton, New York, 
suggesting Captain Arrowsmith for promotion 
to a field office in a New York regiment then 
about to be organized. Just prior to the out- 
break of the rebellion Senator Foote's mind had 
not been free from prejudice toward Arrow- 
smith, due perhaps to his youthful partisanship 
as manifested by racy communications to the 
local Democratic paper ; but these prejudices, 
Senator Foote acknowledged in his reply to Mr. 
Landon, were dispelled by Arrowsmith's manly 
and patriotic course at the outbreak of the war, 
when he came out boldly for his country and 
enlisted in its service, while very many of his 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 165 

party were semi-secessionists. This letter is re- 
plete with the evidences of kind feeling. It 
states that Captain Arrowsmith " is a good offi- 
cer in every respect," "a brave and loyal man." 
" You may do as you think best in regard to ex- 
pressing to him my opinion. If I can help him 
at any time it will afford me great pleasure to 
do so, for two reasons. The first because I con- 
sider him worthy, and secondly, because it 
would afford me an opportunity to demonstrate 
my regard for him." This letter was forwarded 
by Mr. Landon to Captain Arrowsmith, with a 
request that he write to Senator Foote. Cap- 
tain Arrowsmith did so and there followed cor- 
respondence between them which shows that 
notwithstanding past differences, Senator Foote 
had come to entertain towards Captain Arrow- 
smith a very kindly feeling and a high regard. 
The Senator answers him that he is very grate- 
ful for the opportunity offered for mutual ex- 
planations, and adds : " If my feeling of dis- 
like for you had not been dissipated while we 
were at Mr. Greenley's (a boarding-house at 
Hamilton), your noble course at the breaking 
out of the war was such as would have dispelled 
all such feelings. I take pride in the fact that I 
was first to suggest you for captain, and I have 
never seen reason to regret it. You at once 
rose above party feeling that existed at that time, 



1(56 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

and consecrated yourself to the service of your 
country, and ever since I have been anxious for 
your promotion." Senator Foote then refers to 
the fact that a movement has commenced in his 
senatorial district, comprising the counties of 
Madison and Cortland, for the organization of 
a regiment to help make up the new levy, and 
that he had suggested his name for Colonel or 
Lieutenant-Colonel ; and he adds : " It takes 
well, but there is a difficulty to be encountered. 
Professor Brown, of Madison University, wants 
a position as a field officer, and it would be im- 
possible to get a place for both, as both would 
be regarded as hailing from Hamilton." Pro- 
fessor Brown was a brilliant scholar, well known 
in Madison county and had many friends ; he 
was a man of energetic character, full of patri- 
otic zeal, and had devoted himself industriously 
to the work of soliciting recruits for the new 
regiment, addressing public meetings every 
night throughout the district. He was princi- 
pal of the Grammar School connected with the 
University, and Arrowsmith had been associated 
with him, first as pupil and then as his assistant. 
Their personal relations were of the most friend- 
ly character and there could be no rivalry be- 
tween them There was mutual correspondence, 
which resulted in Captain Arrowsmith positive- 
ly refusing to accept the colonelcy of a regi- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 107 

ment over Brown, his old friend and his senior 
in years. By the latter part of August, Brown 
had succeeded in enlisting eight hundred men 
for his regiment, and his appointment to the 
Colonelcy was assured. There was much rivalry 
between the counties comprising the district for 
the honor of filling the other regimental offices. 
Senator Foote was one of the State Senatorial 
Committee for the organization of regiments in 
his district, which gave him considerable influ- 
ence both at home and with Governor Morgan, 
who was the appointing power. He arranged a 
plan by which the objection to appointing the 
two highest regimental officers from the same 
place lost its force. This plan contemplated re- 
serving the office of Lieutenant-Colonel to be 
tilled by a man of experience from the army. 
Then, instead of dividing the other regimental 
offices equally between Madison and Cortland 
Counties, he would magnanimously grant to 
Cortland whatever it asked. With this arrange- 
ment in view, an invitation was extended to the 
committee from Cortland County to meet Sena- 
tor Foote at his office in Hamilton the evening 
of August 23d, 1862. Judge Mason and Pro- 
fessor Brown were also present by invitation. 
The proposition was made by Senator Foote in 
accordance with the plan stated. It was har- 
moniously accepted. The office of Lieutenant- 



168 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Colonel was to be left vacant and to be filled from 
the army. This being settled, Senator Foote 
then presented the name of Captain Arrowsmith 
as an experienced officer in the army, and a 
native and resident of New Jersey, although a 
graduate of Madison University and a law stu- 
dent with Judge Mason in Hamilton up to the 
time of his enlistment. Senator Foote wrote, 
" It took first-rate." He then called on Judge 
Mason for an expression of his views, which 
the Judge of course fully gave, accompanied by 
a reading of recommendations from the army. 
Colonel Brown was on hand, who heartily sec- 
onded the proposition. 

Thus, by the direction of Senator Foote, it 
was fully arranged to organize the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh Regiment, New York State 
Volunteers, with a vacancy in the office of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, and with the understanding that 
an invitation was then to be given to Captain 
Arrowsmith to accept the position. There were 
some underhanded attempts afterwards at Al- 
bany to get another person appointed, but this 
was readily defeated by Senator Foote and Judge 
Mason through Governor Morgan. 

As soon as it was known that Captain Arrow- 
smith was to be the Lieutenant-Colonel and 
Professor Brown the Colonel, there was much 
dissatisfaction expressed in the district because 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 169 

Arrowsmith could not be Colonel. There was 
the highest respect for both, but Arrowsmith 
had earned a reputation in the field while Brown 
was inexperienced. Senator Foote writing to 
Captain Arrowsmith stated that he " saw Gov- 
ernor Morgan and he would have given you a 
commission as Colonel of the regiment if I had 
said so, but you were not here to consult and so 
I did not say the word." Judge Mason in a 
letter written to Captain Arrowsmith's father 
stated, " He should have been appointed the 
Colonel, and so Governor Morgan said, after he 
read the high testimonials from the army, but 
George was in the field and the regiment was 
half filled, and they must have a Colonel then."* 
Senator Foote now, under date of September 
22d, 1862, wrote to Captain Arrowsmith telling 
him all that had been done, and urging him to 
accept the position. Arrowsmith had previously 
written him referring to the order of the War 
Department forbidding army officers leaving 
their positions for the purpose of accepting 
offices in new regiments. Senator Foote wrote, 
in reply : " I was aware of this and so was 
Governor Morgan, and he mentioned it as an 
objection, but we pressed you over that, believ- 
ing you would manage some way to get excused 

* Appendix, Note D. 



170 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

so as to accept the place. We thought that if 
they would not allow you to leave the field now, 
that you would be allowed to do so as soon as 
this regiment got away and in the army. The 
fact is, we have not allowed any obstacle to get 
into your way. Now I hope you will not relin- 
quish the idea of accepting this post." 

Events show that he did accept it, though he 
was being urged about the same time for the 
colonelcy of the Twenty-sixth New York Volun- 
teers, in place of Colonel Christian, who had re- 
signed. Adjutant Bacon was one of his earnest 
advocates for the last-named place ; and Gover- 
nor Parker of New Jersey, urged by prominent 
citizens of that State, had given assurances that* 
he would appoint him to the colonelcy of a New 
Jersey regiment when a favorable opportunity 
offered. 

Enough is written to show that the Lieutenant- 
Colonelcy came to Captain Arrowsmith upon the 
merit of his reputation as a man and a soldier, 
without his leaving the field, and without an 
^effort in his own behalf. He was commissioned 
by Governor Morgan of New York, September 
16th, 1862, with rank from August 23d, 1862. 

On the twenty -fifth of September the One 
Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment left New 
York for its encampment at Centreville, Virginia, 
near Washington. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 171 

On the twenty-sixth of October following, we 
find Lieutenant-Colonel Arrowsmith at Wash- 
ington, where he is waiting for the acceptance 
of his resignation as Assistant Adjutant-General, 
almost well and quite anxious to get out with the 
regiment. "Adjutant Bacon," he writes, "has 
returned from Utica and is here at Brown's 
Hotel. He says his father is urging my claims 
with Governor Morgan as Colonel of the Twenty- 
sixth, though I'm quite indifferent whether he 
succeeds or not, as the regiment's time will be 
out next May." 

November 3d, 1862, George writes his brother 
Stephen from Washington. * * * * " I find 
my regiment has got up to their ears among the 
Dutchmen, in Sigel's corps, Carl Schurtz's divi- 
sion, and Colonel Schimmelfenning's (or some 
such name) brigade. I don't particularly fancy 
this arrangement altogether. I havn't seen the 
Twenty-ninth yet, as it requires quite a long 
horseback ride to do it." 

The One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regi- 
ment appears to have been the only " Yankee 
Regiment," as it was called, in the division, the 
entire corps being largely made up of Germans 
and known as the German corps. It was a pe- 
culiar position. An American regiment serving 
its country in a German army. If it achieved 
victory, to the Germans belonged the glory. If 



172 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

it suffered defeat there was precious little con- 
solation in the thought that the shame was the 
Germans. If George was not particularly 
pleased with this assignment of his regiment, as 
several sportive references to the matter in his 
correspondence would seem to indicate, it was 
perfectly natural. But he found no fault with 
it. He accepted the situation as one of the acci- 
dents of war, and here as elsewhere he knew 
onlv his duty as a soldier. 



A PLEASING RECEPTION. 



T IEUTENANT-COLONEL Arrowsmith had 
not yet seen the regiment of which he was 
Lieutenant-Colonel. It had now been in camp 
nearly two months, and there began to be a good 
deal of anxiety manifested as to when their 
Lieutenant-Colonel was coming, and what he 
was like. They knew him by reputation as a 
man who had had experience in the army and 
had been under fire. This was more than could 
be said of anybody else in the regiment, and of 
course there was curiosity to meet him and have 
him with them. About the middle of November 
he joined the regiment at New Baltimore. 

A writer in the Canastota Herald of the date 
of July 18th, 1875, thus describes the impression 
made by the young officer as he approached the 
regiment for the first time : "What a scanning 



174 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

that young, black-eyed, black-haired officer in 
slouched hat received as he came down the hill 
at New Baltimore to attend the dress parade. 
It was early in November, when the pinching 
frosts and chilling winds of Dixey were telling 
in dampening effect upon the mirth and romance 
of camp life. ' Is that our Lieutenant-Colonel ?' 
says one, after the parade was dismissed. ' He 
does look like a bully boy,' says another. 'See 
that long cavalry sword he carries ; that looks 
as though it had seen service,' remarks another. 
And so was Colonel Arrowsmith discussed, but 
always with a decided bias in his favor. For 
who could see aught but welcome in his pleas- 
ant face, and deny him the same welcome from 
a thousand hearts. 

" It was at once apparent to the eyes of his 
men that Colonel Brown had found in Colonel 
Arrowsmith a counsellor as well as a companion 
in arms ; while Colonel Arrowsmith, from his 
long experience in active service, seemed to re- 
ciprocate such consideration by becoming mod- 
esty towards his superior. The men, too, soon 
found that instead of another ' high dig ' to lift 
their hats to simply, a man had come who 
sought only their best interests and advancement 
in the ways of a soldier, for he seemed to feel 
that his surest way to honor lay in a proper at- 
tention to the general welfare of the men of his 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 175 

regiment. On the march, if he held the com- 
mand, he sought the easiest part of the road, 
found the best water and the coolest shade pos- 
sible for them ; when a sharp bend in the route 
occurred he cut across lots to save distance, 
and rested just as long and often as allowed by 
his superiors. Who could not like such a man ? 
In camp, when on drill under the Lieutenant- 
Colonel, the men under such guidance moved 
with vigor and alacrity, and in excellent trim re- 
turned to their quarters thankful for the experi- 
ence and skill of such an able officer." 

November 16th, 1862, he writes to his brother 
Stephen : * * * * " I've rather enjoyed 
starting campaigning again, so far. General 
Schurtz seems to be a very fine, affable man, and 
hardly a foreigner, but our brigade commander 
is Dutch enough for all practical purposes. 
Our regiment is under excellent discipline and 
my associates very pleasant, gentlemanly fel- 
lows. So I start again in very good spirits for 
another campaign. * * * * We are ordered 
to march in the morning, but I don't know in 
what direction, but I think the movement in- 
clines towards Fredericksburg. I find it is much 
easier to be Lieutenant-Colonel than it was on 
the staff, as then I had nearly everything todo, 
now almost nothing. We are having beautiful 



176 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

autumn weather, with a fine bracing air, just 
right for military operations. I find myself 
pretty well acquainted with the country, and en- 
joy visiting the scenes of my old hardships and 
battles." 



WASHINGTON IN I 862 



T T NDER date of November 24th, 1862, Aliquis 
addresses the Utica Herald from Centre- 
ville, Virginia, which is his last letter to that 
journal, affording us a glimpse of the metropolis 
in the days of the Rebellion. 

Centreville, Va., November 24th. 
To the Editor of the Utica Morning Herald: 

A few days since I saw in some journal that 
the Utica Herald, on account of the increased 
expense of publishing newspapers, had been re- 
duced in size. I noticed since, however, that 
your paper has risen, like the Phcenix from its 
own ashes, and appears as a fine, double sheet. 
Blessed be newspapers ! No matter if the news 
items do sometimes draw very heavily upon the 
imagination. " We pays our money and we takes 



178 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

our choice," should be our consolation, when we 
are at a loss which to consider as miscellany, 
Sylvanus Cobb's tale, or the telegraphic column. 

I am now in Sigel's Corps, Schurtz's Division, 
and Schimmelfenning's Brigade. The names, 
you perceive, are all Italian and " breathe of the 
sweet South." We have been solemnly informed 
through the Washington papers several times 
that we have been cut to pieces and driven back to 
Alexandria, but in the language of the lamented 
Webster, "we ain't dead yet," having seen noth- 
ing calculated to produce death, with the excep- 
tion of commissary's whiskey, since I have been 
here. 

We have been marching and countermarching 
about this part of Virginia for a few days, I 
suppose for the purpose of covering the recent 
movement towards Fredericksburg. By a re- 
cent order, Sigel's Corps is made the reserve 
of the grand army, whose duty I presume it will 
be to protect a place called Washington, the 
guarding of which has caused nearly every 
movement of our armies to miscarry, and has 
cost the country much more than it was ever 
worth. I will give you a description of it. 

The city of Washington, aside from the public 
buildings, consists of four hotels, Pennsylvania 
Avenue, Grover's Theater, and Gautier's saloon. 
The rest of the place is a succession of country 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 179 

villages, with low, illy-planned houses, with 
small negroes leaning on the piazzas. It is a 
capital place to spend a fortune, being abun- 
dantly supplied with extortioners, hackmen, bar- 
keepers and Jews. The best places to get rid of 
money are Joe Hall's gambling saloon and Wil- 
lard's Hotel, though these places have many as- 
piring rivals. There are no particular social 
distinctions in Washington, but there is a sort 
of barber-shop and bar-room sociability in which 
every one who wears good clothes may partici- 
pate. You hardly ever meet any one who is an 
actual resident of Washington. These crowds 
that you meet are all men away from home, and 
hence unsettled, anxious, reckless, seeking for 
positions, for contracts, for a living without 
working, for the necessary bread without the 
usual amount of perspiration required in the an- 
tediluvian sentence. You must not be surprised 
at meeting any old acquaintance in Washington. 
Your friend Jones or Smith, who greets you so 
cordially around home, shakes hands with you 
as a matter of course in Washington, but he ex- 
cuses himself and hurries on, as he is expecting 
to meet some one of more influence at the De- 
partments. No one is interested in what does 
not concern himself, and sensations and riots 
are uncommon. When it w r as expected the city 
would be taken by the confederates, there was 



180 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

no great concern, the billiard balls were clicking 
all day, and the theatres crowded at night. 
From nine o'clock in the morning till three 
o'clock in the afternoon crowds are jostling 
around the Departments, the offensive party. 
The defensive is sustained by cool, indifferent 
clerks and ushers. Business is business with 
them, and unless the applicant claims relation- 
ship with some one in the establishment he is 
conscientiously excluded. 

The rural visitor in the city, if he has not be- 
fore been accustomed to this mixed society of 
clerks, gamblers, officers, fortune hunters and 
Congressmen, seems relieved by a breath of 
fresh, home air again, when he returns from this 
city, Washington, the Political Metropolis, and 
ex-officio the Metropolis of Corruption. 

So much for the city of magnificent distances. 
But still "I'd have no objections to seeing it a 
little longer," as the culprit on the scaffold re- 
plied to the priest when told that " life was all 
a fleeting show." Centreville is about as deso- 
late a looking place as can well be imagined, 
and the country having been crossed and re- 
crossed by armies on both sides, every available 
field has before been occupied as a camping 
ground. The usual traces of an army are visible 
on all sides ; all sorts of filth and garbage, in 
which fevers are lurking ; recumbent horses, 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 181 

very fat and plump, but on the whole, looking 
as though they might be dead or something of 
that sort. No serious epidemics are as yet pre- 
vailing, however, yet it is to be hoped that our 
winter quarters will not be taken at this place. 
Notwithstanding what is felt and said on the 
subject of a winter campaign, it is evident to all 
who have had any military experience in this 
climate, that if Richmond is not taken within a 
month, the state of the roads will check all 
active operations in the field. With Richmond 
as a new base it might be different, but from our 
present base it requires a pretty energetic Gen- 
eral to give an army three meals a day at the 
best of times and under the most favorable cir- 
cumstances. 

I have not seen the Twenty-sixth in some 
time. By some of your army correspondence, I 
notice their chaplain has again joined them. 
The splendid body of men that languished in 
otium cum dignitate at Fort Lyon one year ago, 
speculating on the chances of seeing active serv- 
ice, has in a series of campaigns been trans- 
formed into a small band of veterans. As the 
old organizations dwindle and disappear in the 
discharge of their duty, new ones are rushing in 
to fill their places, to have, I suppose, the same 
experience. Aliquis. 



A REMINISCENT LETTER, 



'T^HE Lieutenant-Colonel being now installed 
in his new position, addresses the writer 
the following reminiscent letter : 

Centreville, Virginia, Nov. 28th, 1862. 
Dear Chum : 

In camp, near Centreville, very comfortable 
tent. Pleasant though cool weather. Regi- 
ment out firing at a target. I'm lonely and 
rather blue ; my horse has got the hoof-rot, and 
cannot be used. I am a little unwell yet and 
off duty; I am out of reading matter and must 
write letters. In commencing a letter to you, 
old times come up before me. What strange 
things a few years bring to pass ! The Brown 
that we used to designate as "Long Brown " in 
distinction from other Browns of no less marked 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 183 

peculiarities, is Colonel of a regiment, and I 
Lieutenant-Colonel. An old Madison student, 
Day; the ex-editor of the Republican, Waldron ; 
and Judd Powers, are privates in the regiment. 
Sam Wickwire, formerly known as " Gumbo," 
is a Second Lieutenant. Last summer when on 
the staff I was visited by a Sergeant, who turned 
out to be Palmer, who graduated when I did — 
he that of old first tasted of war in an encounter 
with George Eaton, one night when the " rust 
was rung" at Madison. Ford, of your class, 
was a Commanding Sergeant in my brigade last 
summer. The other day I met Moses H. Bliss, 
D. K. E., a private in the Forty-fourth New 
York Volunteers. Maclntyre, Curtis, and "Mrs. 
Haskell's sons are dead. Carl Schurtz, the ora- 
tor, is our General here, and other Dutchmen of 
whom we probably bought lager beer three 
years ago, are my compeers in other regiments. 
War, like misery, makes strange bedfellows; as 
you remarked in one of your productions of 
yore, "a bundle of negations and inconsist- 
encies." Our lines have truly fallen in Dutch 
places, we being the only Yankee regiment in 
the Division. " Yankee," I suppose by the way, 
should have its usual prefix, D — n Yankee. 
Custom has made it all one word among our 
secesh opponents, " Damnedyankees." I like 
General Schurtz very well, though I am not so 



184 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

enthusiastic over our Brigadier Schimmelfen- 
ning, whose name, as Ward would say, is "pyure 
Spanish." But, per contra, as the Dutch always 
look out for enough food to eat, and whiskey 
to drink, we are well taken care of, and "fare 
sumptuously every day on purple and fine 
linen," which is a quotation, sir, a quotation ! 
I find that P. P. makes a first-rate Colonel, and 
is very pleasant to be associated with. Even 
war produces some change in him ! He does 
not swear yet, but occasionally says he wants to, 
and drinks nothing as yet stronger than wine, 
but he smokes excessively. The Major is one 
of the jolliest fellows I ever knew. This regi- 
ment has seen no fighting yet, and we have been 
aroused by no midnight attacks except the diar- 
rhea. I don't think myself we shall see any till 
spring, as we shall have to go into winter quar- 
ters, I expect, about New Year's. Then I should 
like you to give me a visit and I'll try to make 
it pleasant for you as long as you wish to stay. 
* * * * I saw Rem. Taylor, L. C, in Wash- 
ington about a month ago. I hear very favora- 
bly of your business prospects, and with pleas- 
ure advise you to "go in boots." Send me a 
Standard occasionally. 

A letter of November 30th, 1 862, to his brother 
Stephen from Centreville, Virginia, describes 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 185 

how he fares with his new command. * * * 
" We have been here at Centreville about two 
weeks and have our quarters fixed very comfort- 
ably. Colonel and myself have one walled tent 
between us; as good on the whole as I had it 
last winter, though really we are not yet in win- 
ter quarters. We have plenty of eatables, and 
on the whole have nothing to complain of. I 
have had bad luck with my horse, though. He 
has been having hoof-rot, but is getting nearly 
well now. My health is capital, and I weigh one 
hundred and sixty-nine pounds. A perfect mon- 
ster ! There is no immediate prospect of a fight 
just here, and in fact the whole game seems to 
be blocked for some reason." 



PERSONAL INCIDENTS. 



T^ROM Acquia Creek, Virginia, he writes 
A to his brother under date of December 
30th, 1862, some interesting personal incidents : 
* * * "We are still in our old camp here 
and nothing remarkable has occurred. I was 
sent off with a detachment of two hundred men 
last Saturday night to Dumfries to reinforce 
Colonel Kennedy there. The night was so dark 
I could sometimes hardly see my horse's head, 
and in the morning entered Dumfries, but about 
an hour too late to find the rebels. After stay- 
ing there one night we came home again, having 
met with no casualties. One good joke: in the 
morning we stopped to eat breakfast near a 
farm house. The inmates of the house supposed 
we were Southerners and fed our horses and us 
with great liberality, and when we left expressed 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 18? 

a hope that we'd catch some of the deuced Yan- 
kees soon. They also said that some more of 
of ' our folks ' (the rebels) had been there about 
an hour before. We carried out the joke, and I 
don't know as they've yet found out their mis- 
take, but I think it's highly probable that they 
have. 

"I understand that my friend Bacon, adjutant 
of the Twenty-sixth, has died from wounds re- 
ceived at Fredericksburg. This makes me feel 
very sad. Both Fessendon and Bacon were very 
intimate friends and I feel their loss very keenly. 
Bacon was only twenty years of age, and had 
just recovered from a wound received at Bull 
Run. What a useless slaughter that affair was ! 

•' I couldn't possibly come home for the holi- 
days, as the Colonel himself wished to be away, 
but could not get leave. But if I ever see a 
chance I'll come, you may be sure. I suppose 
you've had a first rate time, skating, etc. A 
happy New Year to all ! " 

February ist, 1863, finds him at Hartward 
Church, Virginia. The next day he receives a 
furlough and visits Washington and his home in 
New Jersey. Afterward, his furlough is extended 
to the 21st, and February 24th he is back to his 
regiment at Stafford Court House, Virginia. 

March 7th, 1863, still at Stafford Court House, 



188 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

he writes to Stephen : " Our fine weather has 
left us and mud is again upon us. One month 
more will end it, though, I suppose. We have 
had some days that really seemed like spring, 
and I heard some bluebirds singing in the sun- 
shine. We are in the pine timber now and the 
smell of the smoke as the March wind blows it 
in my face reminds me forcibly of burning brush 
for a new watermelon patch. 

" No, you needn't try to tell me anything about 
mud. I've seen the roads so that it's almost 
impossible to get along on horseback. I haven't 
seen Mr. Pearse yet; nor Tom; nor the Twenty- 
ninth. You see, I'm unfortunately among these 
Dutchmen. Tell mother my red flannel shirts 
are much coveted. They are the warmest things 
I ever wore." 



VISIT TO THE TWENTY-NINTH. 



1\ /TARCH 15th, from the same place, he ad- 
dresses Stephen, giving an account of his 
interesting visit to the Twenty-ninth New Jer- 
sey: ****«! took a trip over to the 
left of the army last week — a ride and a rough 
one of about fifteen miles. I called for Tom, 
but he was off on leave of absence, so I went 
to the Twenty-ninth New Jersey, where I saw 
many acquaintances. Rem was sick ; Davison, 
I thought, was a pretty fine fellow. I guess 
they'll all be glad enough when their time is 
out, from what I could observe. Every one 
seems to have grown fat in the service. They 
are very comfortably fixed. I then went to the 
Twenty-sixth New York, now reduced to about 
two hundred and fifty men, but it was quite sad 
to miss the old faces in so many instances. I 



19(1 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

had a great time recalling old times, etc., and 
then a tedious trip home. My horse essays to 
jump a wide ditch. The mud is slippery where 
he lands, he slips back into it, and I go over his 
head, and we're both disgusted with each other. 
When I got back to camp I found the Colonel 
had gone off on a leave of absence so I'm in 
command again for ten days." 

March 22d, 1863, writing his brother from 
Stafford Court House, Virginia, referring to an 
application made to him through his brother by 
an acquaintance for an appointment, he states : 
" For every vacancy that occurs here there are a 
dozen waiting to step in, and there is always the 
deuce of a mess whenever it is done. I should 
feel just so if the Colonel should resign and 
some other Lieutenant-Colonel should be put 
over me. What company is he in ? The Ninth 
is now nowhere near us, but when I once see it 
again, I'll take occasion to speak a good word 
for him with his officers. You see, Stevey, that 
is the best I can do for him without doing in- 
justice to those with whom I am constantly as- 
sociated. Are you acquainted with Captain 
Hendrickson of the Ninth? He lay wounded 
at Fredericksburg in the same bed with my 
friend Bacon when he died." 

The following" extract from a letter written bv 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 191 

a prominent and influential citizen in Madison 
County under date of February 23d, 1863, to 
Lieutenant-Colonel Arrowsmith, voiced the gen- 
eral sentiment of the district from which the 
One Hundred and Fifty-seventh was recruited : 

" Friend Arrowsmith, you stand well with 
your regiment. Every man I have seen speaks 
of you in the highest terms. They think you 
have some regard for them — that you can sym- 
pathize with them, and they not only like you 
but they love you. I hope you will cultivate that 
feeling and I hope the time is not distant when 
for some good reason Lieutenant-Colonel Arrow- 
smith will be the Colonel of the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh and that the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh will then number full one 
thousand effective men. I do not wish anything 
bad of any other person in order to give you 
that place, but if necessary in order for you to 
get it, I hope others will be promoted or detailed 
to some other duty equally congenial with their 
feelings. Your Hamilton friends manifest at 
least as much interest in your success as in any 
who have gone from Hamilton. Yes, through- 
out Madison County there is entire satisfaction 
in regard to Lieutenant-Colonel Arrowsmith 
and there has always been a strong feeling that 
he be made Colonel." 



192 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

March 29th, still at Stafford Court House. 
Virginia, with his regiment. Sunday, April 19th, 
a letter from camp, One Hundred and Fifty- 
seventh New York State Volunteers, closes with 
the remark, " I must go to meeting. We have 
a first-rate chaplain now." 

April 26th, 1863, from Stafford Court House, 
Virginia, he again writes his brother * * * * 
" I'm writing in quite a hurry, as we are ordered 
to move to-morrow morning early and we have 
been here so long that we have accumulated a 
great deal of luggage to be taken care of. You 
never know, you are aware, how many things 
we have till we come to move. I don't know 
which way we are going, but I suppose to open 
some manoeuvre, though in what direction I 
know not, so don't expect letters so regularly 
after this." 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

'T^ HE move referred to and which he supposed 
was only a manoeuvre, was the beginning 
of the important movement under Hooker to- 
wards Chancellorsville. The next day, April 
27th, the Eleventh Corps, to which belonged the 
One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment, un- 
der General Howard, moved up the left bank of 
the Rappahannock to Kelly's ford, where it 
crossed without opposition. Thence it moved 
toward Chancellorsville, in light marching or- 
der, encumbered with little artillery or baggage, 
the ammunition being carried by mules, and be- 
fore the night of the thirtieth they had reached 
Chancellorsville. May 1st, Hooker's defensive 
line of battle was formed in shape of the letter 
C, fronting south. Howard's Corps was on the 
right and was not only weakly posted but was 



194 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

considered a weak corps, probably on account 
of the raw material that composed it ; but as 
the enemy were wholly on the Federal left, its 
position was unwisely thought to be safe. A 
cavalry reconnoissance of the enemy disclosed 
the exposed situation of Howard's Corps and 
Lee resolved to attack it. Jackson moved at 
daybreak of May 2d ; by three o'clock in the 
afternoon he had moved by forest roads around 
the Union army, a circuit of fifteen miles, to a 
point within six miles from where he started 
and two miles to the west of Howard's position. 
Scouts creeping through the woods discovered 
the Union intrenchments unguarded. There 
was no suspicion of an enemy. The arms were 
stacked, the men preparing their dinner. At 
five o'clock herds of deer, scared from their 
bushy retreats, came rushing over the lines. In 
a few minutes Jackson burst upon them through 
the woods. The regiments upon whom the 
shock first fell scattered without firing a shot, 
and the corps broke in disorder and fled. The 
pursuit was checked in one quarter by General 
'Pleasanton with cavalry and artillery ; and in 
another by General Hooker, who, after vainly 
trying to check the fugitives, some of whom 
were shot down by his staff, caused Berry's Di- 
vision to pass straight through the flying crowd 
and pour into the woods a fire of artillery which 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROVVSMITH. 195 

brought the pursuers to a stand. It was here 
that Jackson lost his life by the fire of his own 
men. 

On Sunday morning, May 3d, HowaVd's Corps 
was on the extreme left of Hooker's line, where 
no attack was looked for, and it took no further 
part in the action. On Tuesday night, the 
Union army recrosses the Rappahannock. Of 
the five thousand Union soldiers missing in that 
action, two thousand were from Howard's Corps. 

The rout of the Eleventh Corps was owing to 
an overweening confidence in the safety of its 
position, on the extreme right of the Union 
army, while the enemy, being wholly on the 
Federal left, the possibility of an attack was 
deemed too remote to be entertained, and in 
consequence no pickets were posted. This was 
an inexcusable neglect, especially in view of the 
fact that at one time during the day, Jackson's 
long column at one point where his line of 
march led him over a high hill, was seen by the 
Federal outposts. It was moving southward as 
though in full retreat towards Richmond. Still 
the movement might be meant for an attack 
upon Howard's position, and he was directed to 
be upon the alert, and also to throw out pickets 
on his front — a precaution the neglect of which 
is unexplained. 

Notwithstanding the surprise of the attack 



196 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

and the great confusion of the flight, the One 
Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment, though 
in action for the first time, acquitted itself with 
credit. Its excellent discipline enabled it to 
form very quickly, and it stood its ground until 
ordered to retreat, when it retreated in good 
order, occasionally halting to check the pursuit 
of the enemy by a well-directed volley. Night 
was coming on, and seeing that they were pur- 
sued by only a small detachment, they halted 
and charged on the enemy, taking some prison- 
ers. Then it was dark, and they were alone in 
a great forest. Selecting a road that led towards 
the firing of the battle, bearing their wounded 
with them, they finally brought up at Hooker's 
headquarters, where they found General Schim- 
melfenning rallying the Germans. Here they 
were publicly thanked by the commanding Gen- 
erals. 

Colonel Arrowsmith, from the beginning to 
the end, was at his post of duty, and by his 
coolness and intrepidity, inspired his regiment 
with the valor of veterans. It was reported as 
the verdict of his officers and men, that by his 
superior tact and gallant dash, he saved his 
regiment from annihilation. Its loss was one 
hundred and seven men. In the report of the 
action it was highly complimented by the Gen- 
eral in command for its good conduct. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 197 

Just ten days after leaving Stafford Court 
House the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh is 
back there again in its old camp. It has seen 
stirring times during its short absence, and the 
first opportunity is now afforded for the Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel to write home announcing his 
safety and the result of " the raid across the 
river." It is as follows : 

Stafford Court House, Va., ) 
May 7th, 1863. j 
Dear Stevey : 

All safe and sound yet. I take the pains to tell 
you of it, for so many rumors are afloat about 
our corps. We were in the raid across the river, 
and our corps was badly whipped by being sur- 
prised by a sudden attack on our rear while we 
were carelessly at supper. I'll tell you more 
when I'm not so sleepy, for there is a great deal 
to tell. Your brother, George. 

In accordance with his promise in the last let- 
ter to tell more, he writes his brother on May 
nth from the same camp, which is not only a 
valuable contribution to the history of the part 
taken by the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh 
in the battle of Chancellorsville, but a full and 
complete vindication of its honor, courage and 
soldierly discipline under the most trying cir- 
cumstances. 



HONOR FOR THE I57TH. 

a T SUPPOSE you have been informed 
through the public press of our move- 
ments in the crossing of the Rappahannock — of 
how 'the Eleventh Corps disgraced itself' and 
no longer ' fights mit Sigel ' but ' runs mit 
Howard.' This in short was owing to three 
causes — First, miserable generalship ; second, 
miserable fighting ; third, having no newspaper 
reporters. 

"We left this camp on Monday and marched 
to Kelly's ford, built a bridge in the nitrht, 
drove away the enemy's pickets and crossed 
over. In the morning, marched towards the 
Rapidan, skirmishing with the enemy's cavalry. 
Surprised about one hundred rebels building a 
bridge at the Rapidan and captured them. Our 
footmen crossed in the night on the timbers. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 199 

our horsemen fording the river and getting 
pretty wet. A terrible rain in the night. Thence 
to Chancellorsville where we begin to find the 
enemy in the woods. We occupy the extreme 
right in a wooded country. Friday afternoon 
and evening we have some outpost fighting. 
Saturday our brigadier is very particular with 
his pickets and reconnoitres continually, skirmish- 
ing all the day long. But there is one place in 
our rear, in another division, where there are no 
pickets and messengers are sent to report it to 
General Howard. He says we do not need any 
there, that the attack will be in front. The skir- 
mishing continues all day and attracts but little 
attention. About five o'clock we are carelessly 
eating supper. The division that had no pickets 
was suddenly attacked — Devins's Division— com- 
pletely bewildered as the rebels came from the 
woods right upon their rear. Then they broke. 
Their battery, pointed exactly in the wrong 
direction, was captured. The artillery horses, 
cut loose, ran frantic through the rear line, in- 
creasing the confusion. Then some of our Ger- 
man regiments did break shamefully at finding 
the rebels in their rear and their own officers 
killed. We changed front then and resisted the 
advance. The Germans fell back and left us 
alone. The General who was yet with us then 
ordered us to fall back firing, as the enemy had 



200 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

then got on both our flanks. Then back we 
went, occasionally facing about and giving a 
volley. As we retreated we got into a woods 
The General left us for another part of the field 
and no other regiment was around us. Night 
was now coming on. General Slocum now en- 
gaged the enemy so that only a small detach- 
ment pursued us through the forest. As soon 
as we found this out, we halted and charged on 
them, driving them back and taking four prison- 
ers. Then we were left alone and the question 
was which way to go. It was dark, we had no 
compass and it was a matter of some importance 
which army we should come upon. The battle 
was still going on and we took a wood road and 
went towards the firing, taking our wounded 
with us. We had the good luck to come near 
Hooker's headquarters, where we found Schim- 
melfenning rallying the Germans. Here the 
generals publicly thanked the field officers and 
the regiment generally. So this is the second 
time I have had the luck to gain credit in a de- 
feat, but there isn't much consolation in it. Our 
regiment is much honored in the corps, but 
we're all in disgrace together and I wish we 
were clear of the Dutch. The Dutch are blam- 
ing Howard for his negligence and he blames 
the Germans for breaking. They are both right. 
We are out of the quarrel and they both praise 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 201 

us. To make matters worse the newspaper re- 
porters in the employ of Hooker and Howard 
have laid the whole blame on the troops, but that 
will come all right in time. The upshot of the 
whole was, the Eleventh Corps was shamefully 
beaten ; the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh 
has derived credit from it though with the loss 
of one hundred and seven men. I was not 
scratched. Colonel Brown was very slightly in- 
jured on the arm by a spent shot. On Sunday, 
Monday and Tuesday the battles were successes, 
but the original plan was foiled and the whole 
army safely re-crossed the river, and we were 
out from under fire again. The slaughter among 
the rebels I've no doubt was terrible. Howard 
is much blamed for his negligence. Instead of 
our flank being reinforced, one brigade was sent 
during the day to strengthen Sickles." 

Captain George L. Warner, of Cortland, New 
York, is one of the few surviving officers of the 
One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment. He 
is now secretary of the regimental association, 
and he has kindly favored me with a letter con- 
taining some of his recollections of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Arrowsmith and the One Hundred and 
Fifty-seventh at Chancellorsville, from which I 
make a few extracts that may be of interest. 
* * * * "I well remember the battle of 



202 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

Chancellorsville. I was First Lieutenant in a 
company at that time, and saw Arrowsmith in 
the hottest part of the light. I can answer for 
his coolness under lire, inspiring confidence 
among the officers and men by his example. 
On the first day at Chancellorsville we were in 
column en masse, facing south, when we were 
struck by Jackson on the right flank. We im- 
mediately fell in. Our right rested on a thick 
grove, and we started to face the advancing 
enemy. The underbrush was so thick that we 
had to move by the flank, in a wood road, and 
the brush on either side was so thick that it was 
impossible to get away from the lane, when we 
were met first with one or two wounded horses, 
that jumped right into the ranks. You can im- 
agine the result. This was followed up by minie 
bullets. We retreated back to the clearing, 
where we had been all day, and made a stand, 
firing several volleys into the advancing column, 
by which we held them till the main body came 
up; they having the woods and we the open 
field and within rifle range, the advantage was 
all on their side. We again fell back, and when 
they came out of the woods, we made another 
stand and gave the enemy some punishment. 
We here lost several men. Then we fell back 
to the Chancellorsville house, and the lines were 
formed. Arrowsmith was always at his post of 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 203 

duty. I do not think that there was ever the 
slightest misunderstanding between the Colonel, 
Lieutenant-Colonel and Major. They always 
pulled together, and throughout the One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-seventh there were never any 
dissensions. I attribute this in a great measure 
to the influence of Lieutenant-Colonel Arrow- 
smith. If Major Carmichael were living he 
could tell you a great deal more than I can, for 
he was with him most of the time, but he died 
two years ago; also Captain Coffin, who died 
several years since ; and there are but two of 
the original captains living, Frank Place of 
Cortland, and L. F. Briggs of Eaton, Madison 
County, New York, who was at Gettysburg, and 
left on the field badly wounded. I was pro- 
moted to the captaincy in the latter part of 
1864. As lieutenant I did not have much social 
intercourse with the field officers, but I was 
always received by Colonel Arrowsmith with 
the same cordiality as though I had been an 
officer of equal rank, which was one of his pe- 
culiar characteristics. It was equally so with 
the enlisted men, and I never heard an unkind 
word from any member of the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh, officer or private, concerning 
Colonel Arrowsmith." 

May 17th, from camp near Brooks Station, 
Virginia, the Lieutenant- Colonel writes that 



204 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

they have moved their camp for sanitary reasons, 
about a mile from their former camp, in a splen- 
did place. " What a beautiful Sunday ! " he 
writes. " The birds singing and the sun shin- 
ing." He speaks of a visit to his brother Tom, 
who had returned from a raid, and who had 
given him one of his horses to keep for him, 
which he was glad to do. During the last week, 
he states, he has been acting as president of a 
Court Martial. Referring to the rout of the 
Eleventh Corps, he says: " Nothing new. Time 
and truth are working a little in favor of the 
Eleventh Corps, but truth will never help some 
regiments in it. We have the assurance from 
the Generals that ours will be most favorably 
mentioned in the reports, so on that we rest." 

May 24th, writing from the same place, he 
says : " We have a splendid camp, adorned with 
evergreens like an ice cream garden. The 
Colonel is off on a ten-days' leave, and I am in 
command. The indications are that we shall 
do nothing for some time, at least. The pickets 
are reduced and we're taking our ease. Schurtz 
has his wife here." 

Another letter from the same place, under 
date of May 31st, 1863, his mind recurs to the 
defeat of the Eleventh Corps. * * * "You 
will perceive that there is now a more rational 
opinion afloat with regard to the Eleventh Corps. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 305 

I must confess the corps didn't do to suit me, 
for it was the duty of the corps to remain there 
and die under the circumstances. Still, out of 
justice to the many that fell there, the eighty- 
three from my own regiment, a wholesale con- 
demnation is hardly fair. We had the misfor- 
tune to occupy the critical position under a 
corps general, who never before commanded a 
corps, and a commander-in-chief who never be- 
fore commanded an army. I think some other 
corps might have stood there fifteen minutes 
longer, only that, for Jackson's whole army was 
upon us. The Germans also would not have 
acted so under Sigel." * * * 



THE INVASION OF THE NORTH 



PHE results of the battles of Fredericksburg 
and Chancellorsville inspired the most 
sanguine hopes at Richmond, and it was re- 
solved to renew the invasion of the North upon 
a scale that would enable the South to conquer 
peace and dictate its terms. Early in June Lee's 
army began its northward march, moving down 
the valley of the Shenandoah westward of the 
Blue Ridge Mountains. The Union army fol- 
lowed in a parallel direction on the opposite side 
of the Blue Ridge. 

On the twenty-first of June the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh was at Goose Creek, Virginia, 
about six miles south of Leesburg. Here our 
Lieutenant-Colonel writes to his brother: "We 
are in a bivouac along the stream about six 
miles from Leesburg, but we do not expect to 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 207 

stay here long. I hear some fighting now in 
the direction of Aldie. Pleasanton's cavalry, I 
guess. I went on a scout over in Maryland last 
week, with one cavalryman, swimming our 
horses over the Potomac. We had a first-rate 
time, but were arrested by our own cavalry as 
spies over the river. We got back all safe yes- 
terday afternoon. I saw the Twenty-ninth just 
before they started. I think they had better 
come back again. All well, and right." 

On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of June 
the confederate army crossed the Potomac, 
near the battle field of Antietam, and pressed 
on towards Chambersburg in Pennsylvania. 
On the twenty-sixth Hooker crossed the Poto- 
mac at Edwards Ferry, and moved towards 
Frederick City. The next day Hooker resigned 
the command of the army, and General Meade 
was appointed in his stead. Howard retained 
the command of the Eleventh Corps. A por- 
tion of Lee's army had reached Carlisle, Pa., 
and was preparing to move on Harrisburg, but 
the news that Meade had crossed the Potomac, 
and w T as advancing northward, compelled him 
to change his plans and move towards Gettys- 
burg. On the twenty-eighth of June a portion 
of Hooker's corps, including the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh New York, had reached Mid- 



208 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

dletown, Maryland. From this point the Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel writes his last letter home. It 
is addressed as usual to "Dear Stevey " and 
was written on Sunday, just three days before 
the battle, but it was not received by his brother 
until after the melancholy news of his death. 
In it he writes : 

"Well, we are in Maryland. In as fine a coun- 
try as I ever saw in my life — like Pleasant Val- 
ley — quite refreshing — abundance of everything 
— nearly all Union people — stars and stripes 
hanging out all over — hotels open — no robbing 
on the one side, and no bushwhacking on the 
other; quite a pleasant change for the army, but 
quite bad for the country generally. Middle- 
town is a nice place, about like Middletown 
Point, and the people are nearly all Unionists, 
so it is very pleasant. I have been a little un- 
well for a day or two, and have been staying at 
a private house, but am all right again now, and 
expect to return to camp to-morrow. Write 
soon." 

How rejoiced must have been these worn and 
travel-stained troops, after two years of cam- 
paigning upon the battle-scarred fields of Vir- 
ginia, hot and smoking amid the desolations of 
war, to find themselves surrounded by green 
pastures and fields of bending grain. Loud 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 209 

and long must have been their cheers and their 
songs, as the Union-loving citizens of Maryland 
greeted them with the emblems of loyalty from 
every housetop and window, and spread before 
them the richest bounties of their generous hos- 
pitality. As the Lieutenant-Colonel expresses 
it, there was no bushwhacking, no robbing, now, 
for the boys in blue, for the first time, were 
campaigning among their friends. 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 



/^\N the night of June 30th, General Howard's 
^^^ Corps was supporting the First, and lay 
at Emmetsburg, ten miles south of Gettysburg, 
with orders to march up and keep within sup- 
porting distance of the First Corps. On the 
morning of the first of July it left Emmetsburg 
and marched to Gettysburg. On the way they 
caught the sound of artillery firing. It was the 
First Corps engaging the enemy. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Arrowsmith had not fully recovered 
from his illness at Middletown, but he felt able 
to ride his horse. Dr. H. C. Hendrick, the 
regimental surgeon, rode by his side. Hear- 
ing heavy cannonading Arrowsmith remarked, 
" There will be warm work to-day, Doctor." 
The doctor replied : " You must not go into the 
fight, Colonel; you are not strong enough." As 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 211 

they proceeded, Colonel Arrowsmith talked 
freely and spoke of the trepidation usually ex- 
perienced upon going into battle the first time. 
''I have gotten over all that," said he. "I have 
come to feel that the bullet is not moulded 
which is to kill me."* 

The regiment reached Gettysburg about noon, 
much fatigued with a rapid march on a mid- 
summer day. An order is given to double-quick 
march. They take to the sidewalks. Captain 
Dilger's First Ohio Battery, which was behind, 
sweeps by them on a swift gallop, its cannoniers 
bouncing high in their seats as the wheels re- 
volve rapidly over obstructions in the roadway. 
The men of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh 
swing their hats in the air with loud cheers for 
the First Ohio Battery. They know each other, 
for they were together at Chancellorsville. 
They pass through the town to a point a few 
hundred yards north of it, where three roads 
come together. The Mummasburg road branch- 
ing to the northwest; the Carlisle road to the 
north, and the Harrisburg road to the northeast. 
In the double triangle thus formed the Eleventh 
Corps took its position facing northward, the 
One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment being 
posted in a field on the right of the First Corps, 

* Appendix, Note E. 



212 I >IEUTEN ANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

with the Mummasburg road on its left and the 
Carlisle road on its right, while the First Ohio 
Battery was immediately in its front. The shell 
from the guns of the enemy flew over the bat- 
tery and fell in the regiment, doing much in- 
jury, and on account of the horses becoming 
restless, Colonel Brown and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Arrowsmith dismounted and sent their animals 
to the rear. The first shot from the Ohio Bat- 
tery flew over the confederate battery. At this 
the rebels were jubilant and yelled in derision. 
Captain Dilger now sighted the gun himself and 
fired it. The shot dismounted a rebel gun and 
killed the horses. Captain Dilger tried it a sec- 
ond time, sighting and firing the gun. No ef- 
fect being visible with the naked eye, Colonel 
Brown, who was near, asked " What effect, Cap- 
tain Dilger?" Captain, after looking through 
his glass, replied, " I have spiked a gun for them, 
plugging it at the muzzle." In the first move- 
ment of the regiment on the left of the field two 
hundred rebels came in and surrendered them- 
selves as prisoners. Once, under fire, while ex- 
ecuting a manoeuvre, the regiment fell into con- 
fusion, from which there seemed to be difficulty 
in extricating it. Then was heard the stento- 
rian voice of the Lieutenant-Colonel conveying 
the right order at the right moment, which im- 
mediately relieved the embarrassment. A sur- 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 213 

vivor of the regiment relating the incident says, 
" Oh, how glad we were to hear that voice, for 
then we knew that our beloved Lieutenant- 
Colonel, who had been ill, was with us."* 

During the forenoon, the First Corps had 
more than held its own, driving the enemy and 
capturing many prisoners. About ten o'clock 
rebel reinforcements began to arrive. Rodes 
and Early had come up by a rapid march. 
Rodes's Division entered the fight about noon. 
The First Corps, now greatly outnumbered and 
hard pressed, was about giving way on its right. 
It was at this juncture the Eleventh Corps ar- 
rived. By their support the tide of battle was 
stayed. It was now two o'clock. Early's Divi- 
sion then advanced, forming in front of Schurtz's 
Division. 

It was impossible for the First Corps and two 
divisions of the Eleventh Corps, comprising not 
more than eighteen thousand men, to stand long 
before forty thousand of Heath, Pender, Rodes 
and Early. , General Howard wisely recognizing 
this fact, before any order of retreat had been 
given, directed the withdrawal of the heavy ar- 
tillery to Cemetery Hill, and so disposed of 
Steinwehr's Division that it could support our 
retiring men. 

* Appendix, Note F. 



DEATH OF ARROWSMITH. 

T^ARLY'S Division now entered the fight. 
^ The Federal line was sorely pressed. It 
took the form of a crescent, its extreme points 
being drawn in towards the town, while the cen- 
tre, which was the position of the One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh, was in danger of being cut 
off altogether by the confederate attack upon 
both flanks. The enemy was seen advancing 
toward the town by the right flank, driving the 
Second Brigade. General Schimme],fenning or- 
dered the regiment to move over to the right to 
check their advance. It proceeded to execute 
the order and moved up to within fifty yards of 
the enemy. The attack was made. Colonel 
Arrowsmith was on the right of the line. His 
voice was heard above the din of the battle, en- 
couraging the men and directing their fire. The 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 215 

regiment was in an exposed place and suffering 
fearful slaughter by the enemy's fire upon both 
flanks. After fighting a short time Colonel Ar- 
rowsmith fell, struck by a rifle ball in the fore- 
head. A general retreat had been ordered, but 
the aide bearing the order had his horse shot 
under him and it did not reach the brigade 
promptly. It came at last and the regiment re- 
treated. The following letter from Colonel 
Brown, written twenty-four days after the battle, 
but hitherto unpublished, was intended to give 
to the public the particulars concerning Colonel 
Arrowsmith's death: 

Washington, D. C, July 27th, 1863. 
Mr. Editor: 

As several incorrect reports have been made 
with reference to the death of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Arrowsmith, I thought it would be grat- 
ifying to his friends to know all the particulars 
just as they are. The morning of the day on 
which the battle occurred, the regiment marched 
from Emmetsburg, a distance of ten miles, 
reaching Gettysburg very much worried. The 
greatly superior numbers against which the First 
Corps were contending made it necessary for 
the Eleventh to be thrown promptly forward. 
Without stopping for rest we were moved 
through the town upon the double quick and 



21o LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

placed in position behind Dilger's Battery, 
which was soon engaged by three batteries of 
the enemy. While lying there the numerous 
shot and shell thrown among us rendered our 
horses so unmanageable we both dismounted 
and sent them to the rear. After the rebel bat- 
teries had been silenced the whole brigade was 
thrown forward. Soon after reaching the posi- 
tion assigned us I was ordered by General 
Schimmelfenning to move over some distance to 
the right and attack the enemy, who were then 
driving the Second Brigade of our Division. 
This order I proceeded at once to execute. In 
order to get my regiment into position to do ef- 
fective service, I found it necessary to move up 
to within fifty yards of the enemy, who by the 
time I reached my position had placed a whole 
brigade in line to resist my attack. The attack 
was made, Colonel Arrowsmith occupying his 
proper position on the right, encouraging his 
men and faithfully and gallantly doing his whole 
duty, while I gave my attention to the centre 
and left. We had been fighting but a short 
time, when, upon looking to the right, I discov- 
ered that the Lieutenant-Colonel was missing. 
I moved at once to the right and found him 
lying upon his back, badly wounded in the head, 
breathing slowly and heavily, and evidently in- 
sensible. As my presence along the line was 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 217 

more necessary that he had fallen, I could stop 
but a moment, and returned to my position. 
The men were falling rapidly and the enemy's 
line was taking the form of a semi-circle, evi- 
dently with the design of surrounding us, at the 
same time concentrating the fire of their whole 
brigade upon my rapidly diminishing numbers. 
An enfilading fire from a battery upon our left 
was also doing fearful execution. I had looked 
around several times to see if some support 
would not be sent, or an order for retreat. 
Neither came. The last time I looked I saw 
one of General Schimmelfenning's aides about 
half way across the field, taking the saddle off 
his horse and running back, and I learned from 
some of my wounded men who fell before we 
reached our position, that the same aide came 
out a short distance and hallooed to me to re- 
treat. I, however, heard no order. Seeing that 
we were likely to be all shot down or taken 
prisoners, I ordered a retreat. From the wound- 
ed left on the field I learned that the Lieutenant- 
Colonel died shortly after the retreat. An at- 
tempt was made to bring him off, but the prox- 
imity of the enemy and the hot firing prevented. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Arrowsmith died, as every 
true soldier would wish to die, at his post, gal- 
lantly fighting for his country. A brave man, a 
skillful officer, possessing a keen sense of honor, 



218 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

generous to a fault, bound to him by a long per- 
sonal attachment formed and ripened in the 
various relations of teachers and pupils, asso- 
ciate teachers and fellow officers, I mourn his 
loss as that of a brother, and offer to the family 
and friends of the lamented hero my warmest 
and tenderest sympathy. 

I am, sir, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

P. P. Brown, Jr., 
Col. 157th N. Y. Vols. 

I am indebted to Lieutenant-Colonel Frank 
Place of Cortland, New York, for another ac- 
count of Colonel Arrowsmith's death and of the 
part of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh in 
the first day's battle of Gettysburg. Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Place was the senior captain in the 
regiment at that time and a warm personal 
friend of Colonel Arrowsmith. He writes 
* * * "Our corps (Eleventh) came up from 
Emmetsburg at about noon, passed through the 
town and took position on the right of the First 
Corps, my own regiment deploying into the 
field east of the Mummasburg road and just op- 
posite the Pennsylvania College. We were soon 
moved further east — as far as the Carlisle road, 
and there supported the battery belonging to 
our brigade. After an hour or so the battery 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 219 

and my regiment were ordered forward, towards 
the hill between these two roads, the battery 
was withdrawn and my regiment continued to 
advance. Soon it was discovered that the ene- 
my were advancing towards the town by our 
right flank. We were ordered by the Colonel 
to 'change front forward on first company,' all 
the while under fire apparently on both flanks. 
It was while this movement was being executed 
or just after that Lieutenant-Colonel Arrow- 
smith received the fatal shot. He was near the 
right of the line. I think that he never stirred 
after he fell. I was within ten feet of him when 
he fell. I was the Senior Captain in the regi- 
ment and was in my place, but having the com- 
mand of my men, I could render him no assist- 
ance. My recollection is that orders to retreat 
very soon reached us and we left the field. 

" My First Lieutenant, J. A. Coffin, was wound- 
ed and left upon the field. He recovered after 
a while and found Colonel Arrowsmith's body, 
and took from his person his D. K. E. badge. 
Coffin and I were both captured and spent nine 
months together in Libby Prison. I was then ex- 
changed and Coffin stayed nearly a year longer. 
I believe that the Lieutenant-Colonel's badge 
was sent to his brother. 

" The field officers dismounted before going 
into this fight. Colonel Brown was in com- 



220 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

mand. Colonel Arrowsmith was in his place 
and in the line of duty when killed. No braver 
or cooler man ever breathed. ' Why were we in 
such an exposed position?' We were ordered 
to advance, and receiving no order to retire, we 
kept advancing. The General sent an aide with 
orders for us to retreat, but his horse was shot 
under him and he was delayed in giving us the 
order. In the meantime Colonel Brown, seeing 
the advance of rebel troops along the Carlisle 
road, ordered us to change front. Then receiv- 
ing orders to retreat, we did retreat. 

" Now I have given you briefly an account of 
Colonel Arrowsmith's death, etc. A captain in 
command of his company has all he can do in 
that line. He has no time to take in the whole 
plan of battle, and hence I may not be able to 
give all that transpired, but I have done this as 
faithfully as I can. There are many things I 
might say with regard to Colonel Arrowsmith's 
character, if my pen were adequate. Let me 
say that no officer of the One Hundred and 
Fifty-seventh Regiment enjoyed the confidence 
and respect of the men in a greater degree than 
did Lieutenant Colonel George Arrowsmith." 

The field officers of the One Hundred and 
Fifty-seventh Regiment on the morning of the 
first of July, 1863, Colonel Place states, were as 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARKOWSMITH. 221 

follows: P. P. Brown, Jr., colonel, command- 
ing; George Arrowsmith, lieutenant - colonel ; 
J. C. Carmichael, major on the staff of General 
Schurtz. After the death of Colonel Arrow- 
smith, Major Carmichael was promoted to the 
vacant Lieutenant-Colonelcy and Captain Place 
was commissioned major early in 1865. Colonel 
Brown resigned to take a command in General 
Hancock's veteran corps. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Carmichael was commissioned colonel and Major 
Place was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of 
the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment, 
but neither of the last two were ever mustered 
into the rank to which they had been commis- 
sioned. 

"When the regiment reached town," says 
Colonel Place, " we found the east portion of 
the village already in possession of the confed- 
erate troops and pressing close on the west. 
Many were captured in the town. General 
Schimmelfenning, commanding the brigade, 
concealed himself in a woodpile and remained 
there until the evacuation on the morning of the 
fourth day." 

That portion of the First and Eleventh Corps 
which escaped, made a stand on Cemetery Hill. 
Meade's army got into position that night from 
Culp's Hill to Round Top, and the next day the 



222 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

battle began on more equal terms, with the re- 
sult that the world knows. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regi- 
ment was almost annihilated. Its loss was as 
follows : Killed — four officers and twenty-three 
enlisted men ; wounded — eight officers and one 
hundred and fifty-eight enlisted men ; captured 
— six officers and one hundred and eight enlisted 
men. Aggregate of killed, wounded and cap- 
tured, three hundred and seven, out of about 
three hundred and fifty with which it entered 
the battle.* 

Lieutenant Coffin, the wounded officer who 
went to the assistance of Colonel Arrowsmith 
after he fell, besides the Delta Kappa Epsilon 
badge, took possession of some other articles of 
property found upon his person and which he 
knew would be cherished as relics of the dying 
hero. Among these were his revolver, his 
shoulder straps, and a little book stained with 
his blood entitled, "A Memorial of Adjutant 
Bacon," which on a fly-leaf bore the following 
inscription: "To my esteemed friend, Lieutenant- 
Colonel George Arrowsmith, a beloved associate 
and companion in arms of my brave and loyal 
son, this memorial of him is presented by the 
author, June, 1863." These he sacredly guarded 



Appendix, Note G. 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 223 

during his captivity, until opportunity was found 
to forward them to the parents of the deceased. 
One of the shoulder straps had been cut by a 
rifle ball in the battle, causing a slight abrasion 
of the shoulder, evidencing the terrific character 
of the enemy's fire ; but before Lieutenant 
Coffin had secured these relics, a wounded pri- 
vate had taken the ring from Colonel Arrow- 
smith's finger, and his purse from his pocket, 
containing about one hundred and sixty dollars. 
As the field was in the possession of the enemy, 
he saw no harm in taking this property from the 
dead officer, as they were sure to be taken and 
confiscated by the enemy. The harm lay in 
the criminal appropriation of the property thus 
secured. The wounded culprit found his way 
to a Newark military hospital. He gave the 
empty purse to a fellow soldier, with the remark, 
" If you knew who it belonged to you would 
prize it." He also exhibited the ring upon his 
finger, remarking that "he thought a great deal 
of it, for it belonged to the best man in his regi- 
ment." These facts having been reported, earn- 
est efforts were made to obtain the property. 
Finally, by the effective exertions of Marcus L. 
Ward, afterwards Governor of New Jersey, a 
confession was extorted from the criminal. The 
money he had spent, with the exception of about 
seventy-five dollars, which was restored, and the 



224 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSM1TH. 

ring, though it had been given away, was re- 
covered. 

The sword presented to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Arrovvsmith by his men when he was Captain of 
Company D, Twenty-sixth New York Regiment, 
has a history. At his promotion, having no fur- 
ther personal use for it, he loaned it to his friend , 
Byron S. Fitch, Second Lieutenant Company 
C, One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New York 
Volunteers, who carried it in the battle of 
Gettysburg. When he saw the certainty of his 
capture by the enemy, he buried it in an ash-heap 
in the street at Gettysburg. He was captured, 
but succeeded in escaping before the evacuation 
of the town. After the retreat of the confeder- 
ates, he returned to the ash-heap and recovered 
the hidden treasure. 

Upon receiving the sorrowful news of his 
brother's decease, Dr. Joseph E. Arrowsmith 
hastened to the scene of the late conflict. Arriv- 
ing at Baltimore on the Fourth of July, he was 
subjected to much delay and difficulty in reach- 
ing Gettysburg, as all lines of travel were sub- 
ordinated to military authority, and transporta- 
tion to civilians was denied. He did not reach 
the battle ground until late the following week, 
whence he proceeded to the hospital of the 
Eleventh Army Corps, two miles south of Gettys- 
burg, to obtain information respecting the place 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. -225 

of burial of his brother. Of this visit the New- 
York Herald related the following incident in an 
obituary notice of the deceased : 

" A touching incident which occurred well 
illustrates the estimation in which the deceased 
was held by officers and men. It was in the 
hospital of the Eleventh Army Corps, about two 
miles south of Gettysburg. The surgeons were 
working hard with the wounded, many of whom 
had been four or five days awaiting surgical aid. 
Of course they were anxiously looking for re- 
lief. A private of the One Hundred and Fifty- 
seventh New York, after so long waiting, had 
now reached his turn, and was just going to 
be laid on the operator's table. Hearing that 
friends of his late Lieutenant-Colonel were in- 
quiring where the body fell and was buried, he 
at once volunteered to go and show them. Of 
course the offer of the noble hearted man was 
not accepted. Instantly Captain Adams, who 
had just been taken off the operator's table, 
where he had had a ball extracted, which, after a 
circuitous route, had lodged under the shoulder 
blade, tendered his services to point out the 
place. And in this condition he went." 

The body was exhumed, and decomposition 
had progressed to an extent that rendered neces- 



226 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

sary a metallic coffin. The supply of these in 
Gettysburg and Baltimore was unequal to the 
demand. The doctor was compelled to go back 
to New York for the purpose of procuring one ; 
and then returning, he caused the remains to be 
forwarded to Middletown, New Jersey. 



FUNERAL OBSEQUIES. 

^PHE funeral obsequies were held in the Bap- 
* tist Church of Middletown, on Sunday, 
July 26th, 1863, at half-past three o'clock. The 
weather was propitious, and the assembled 
throng was so great that but a small part could 
find accommodation wkhin the church edifice. 
The Brigade Board of Monmouth and Ocean 
Counties was present in full uniform without 
side arms. An impressive sermon was delivered 
by the Rev. David B. Stout,* and an obituary 
notice, rendering tribute to the exalted character 
of the deceased, was read by the Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Lockwood. After the service the re- 
mains were interred at Fair View cemetery in 
Middletown township. Quite extended obituary 

* Appendix, Note A. 



228 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

notices of a highly eulogistic character appeared 
in the newspapers of Madison, Cortland and 
Chemung Counties of New York, and Monmouth 
County, New Jersey ; also in the daily papers of 
New York City, Washington and Philadelphia. 
Resolutions of condolence and respect were 
adopted by the Brigade Board of Monmouth 
and Ocean Counties,* and by the Class of '59 of 
Madison University,! of which the deceased was 
a member, at the Commencement following his 
death. In commemoration of his virtues and 
noble deeds a monument of Ouincy granite was 
erected over his remains. It bears the following 
inscription : 

Lt. Col. George Arrowsmith, 

One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New York 
Volunteers. 

He bore a distinguished part in several severe engage- 
ments, and fell at Gettysburg gallantly leading his Regi- 
ment, July 1st, 1S63, aged 24 years, 2 months, 13 days. 

Erected by his numerous friends in token of his personal 
worth, patriotic devotion, and distinguished bravery. 

The devoted regiment and his college asso- 
ciates made generous contributions towards its 
expense as a tribute of their love. 



Appendix, Note H. 'Note I. 



TRIBUTE FROM COLONEL PLACE, 



a pUNCTILIOUS in all that appertained to 
military discipline and etiquette in the 
line of duty, he could meet the humblest private 
soldier at other times on terms of equality. He 
was in no sense a*martinet. He was modest 
without being weak, conscious of his personality 
and power, without being arrogant and obtru- 
sive. 

" I soon learned that there were ties which 
bound me to him other than those of a common 
humanity or loyalty to the flag we had both 
sworn to defend ; that we were members of the 
same college fraternity. To us twain fraternity, 
charity and loyalty had a twofold meaning. 

" He possessed all the qualities of a thorough 
disciplinarian, and held the line officers to a 
strict accountabilitv for their conduct in the 



230 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSM1TH. 

presence of their men in all the minor duties of 
camp, bivouac, or drill. He never publicly re- 
proved an officer, but sought the retirement of 
his tent to administer a rebuke for any un- 
soldierly conduct. The peculiar bond between 
him and myself above referred to did not in the 
least exempt me from receiving deserved re- 
proof. He thoroughly believed in the potent 
influence of example upon the rank and file set 
by those in authority over them. This principle 
he exemplified at all times, and in all places. It 
is an historical fact that at Chancellorsville our 
army was surprised. The enemy made their 
attack from the direction not contemplated, and 
hence we were in no position to repel. 

" The result was a defeat. This was the first 
general engagement in whrch my regiment had 
participated. The attack came suddenly and 
with overpowering effect, yet I can confidently 
assert that it was largely through Colonel Arrow- 
smith's coolness and self-possession that we re- 
treated from that ill-fated field in so good order 
and with so little loss of life. Our next general 
engagement was at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 
July TSt, 1863. Here Colonel Arrowsmith dis- 
played the same courageous qualities that dis- 
tinguished him at Chancellorsville. He died as 
he would have chosen to die if so willed, with 
his face towards the foe. Thus he filled the full 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 231 

measure of devotion to his country, by the sac- 
rifice not only of the hopes and aspirations of the 
cultured and refined gentleman, but of life it- 
self." 

Colonel Place addressed the Arrowsmith Post 
as follows : 

"Comrades of Arrowsmith Post, Department of New 
Jersey, Grand Army of the Republic : 
" You acted wisely when you decided upon 
the name of your Post. The name of George 
Arrowsmith is enshrined in the hearts of his sur- 
viving comrades. No words of mine can add 
lustre to his renown. I can only exhort you to 
emulate his patriotic devotion to the cause of 
your country's welfare and prosperity." 



CONCLUSION, 



'T^HUS lived and died Lieutenant - Colonel 
George Arrowsmith at the early age of 
twenty-four "years. While full maturity of char- 
acter had not been attained, yet there was ex- 
hibited a sound and vigorous growth, beautiful 
in its symmetry, and towering in its aspirations. 
Though falling in the springtime of life, he did 
not live in vain. The principle for which he 
grasped his sword was vindicated. The rebellion 
was crushed and constitutional liberty was pre- 
served. It was he in common with other brave 
hearts and strong arms who accomplished this 
great result. He lived long enough to share in 
the glorious work and to render brilliantly con- 
spicuous the virtues of his noble character. 

He gave his all to his country, cultivated 
talents, alluring prospects in civil pursuits, a 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 233 

young life ; as a patriot he could have done no 
more. Of his courage I need not speak. It is 
attested by heroic deeds on several battle-fields, 
which are at once his monuments and his eu- 
logies. 

In manhood he was the soul of honor, with an 
innate contempt for whatever was mean or in- 
triguing. He possessed a high sense of duty 
which characterized his whole life, a steady pur- 
pose to do what he believed to be right. He 
honored his father and mother, and in the sacred 
precincts of his own home he was the light and 
joy of their hearts. 

There was no gulf between him and others of 
less favored position. He had no snobbish pride 
or silly vanity. Here he was the idol of the 
volunteer soldier. He possessed a dignity in 
bearing and a gravity in repose, but when ap- 
proached his genial salutation relieved all un- 
certainty. He was proud, but it was the honor- 
able pride born of true nobility of character. 
He was ambitious, but it was the laudable am- 
bition to excel in good works and deeds. 

In conversation and social intercourse he was 
refined and courteous. A coarse or profane ex- 
pression never fell from his lips. It was a strong 
point made in one of the testimonials presented 
to Governor Morgan recommending his pro- 



234 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 

motion, that he was an officer who never used 
profane language. 

His knowledge of history and general English 
literature was extensive. He had a good mem- 
ory, keen perceptions and a pleasant vein of 
humor. To these he united gifts of soul that 
enabled him to bind to his heart all who knew 
him with bands of steel. 

His patriotism was not the enthusiasm of the 
hour to be chilled by the first reverse or defeat. 
It was a settled determination, a firm conviction, 
that underlying the contest was a great moral 
principle. Scenes of peril, of exposure, of ex- 
ertion, he encountered without a murmur. Nor 
did he entertain a thought of terminating his 
military career before the end of the war. To 
the advice of a friend that he should limit his 
term of service, his reply was that " as long as 
the war lasts, I will serve my country." 

His natural qualities were conspicuously mani- 
fested in his army life. From the patient and 
painstaking student he became a thorough in- 
structor and tactician in camp. From a genial 
companion in society he passed as the type of 
good fellowship by the camp-fire. His gentle 
and sympathetic nature endeared him to the 
victims of pain and suffering. Favored with a 
strong physical organization, he could endure 
hardships without exhaustion. Possessed of 



LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSMITH. 235 

great moral pride, he was a lion in danger, and 
his natural impetuosity made him a thunderbolt 
in battle. 

It is idle to speculate upon what he might have 
been had his life been spared. We accept him 
with admiration and gratitude for what he was. 
Enlisting as a mere boy, without rank, he was 
at once unanimously chosen by his fellow volun- 
teers as the commandant of the company. In 
one year, for merit, he was promoted to the office 
of Assistant Adjutant-General upon the staff 
of General Tower, upon the recommendation 
of the Division Commander, General Ricketts. 
Without leaving the army, he was elevated to the 
field office of Lieutenant-Colonel by the Gov- 
ernor of New York, who was thus prompted by 
the fame of the soldier, and was only restrained 
from appointing him Colonel by his generous 
refusal to accept the position over a friend. On 
the eve of Gettysburg his comrades urged his 
higher promotion, with flattering testimonials 
from persons of distinguished military rank, but 
here was ended his rising career. It was an 
honorable death, and his epitaph is briefly writ- 
ten : a sterling soldier, a true patriot, and a 
brave man. 



APPENDIX. 



NOTE A. 

A sermon by the Rev. David B. Stout on the occasion 
of the funeral of the late Lieutenant-Colonel George Ar- 
rowsmith. Text, II Samuel, chapter xix, verse 2. "And 
the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all 
the people." ■ 

It is a fact attested by universal experience, that by 
sympathy a man may receive into his own affectionate 
feelings a measure of the distress of his friend, and that 
his friend does find himself relieved in the same pro- 
portion as the other has entered into his grief. From 
the language of the text I would call your attention to 
the duty of Christian sympathy toward the bereaved. 

There is in the heart of man a generous sympathy for 
man. By sympathy is meant fellow-feeling — the quality 
of being affected by feelings similar to those of another. 
By observing the operations of our own minds, we shall 
discover the existence of this principle, and become con- 
vinced that it is a distinct element of human nature. 



238 APPENDIX. 

A smile upon the countenance of a friend excites one 
upon our own. The depiction of sorrow and deep dejec- 
tion upon the visage of a fellow being, measurably pro- 
duces to some extent similar feelings in our own hearts. 
If we are present on occasions of peculiar joy to our 
friends, we, by the sympathy of our nature, partake of 
that joy. No one with a full knowledge of the circum- 
stances could have witnessed the countenance of the 
venerable patriarch brightening with a beam of joy, as 
he listened to the narration of his sons, late from Egypt, 
and lifted up his eyes and saw the wagons sent for his 
accommodation, and heard him in the exuberance of 
paternal joy exclaim, " It is enough, Joseph, my son, is 
yet alive, I will go and see him before I die," without 
having felt the movings of inward sympathy and a thrill 
of sadness. Our grief is also excited by witnessing the 
grief of others. Visit the dwelling of a respected ac- 
quaintance; enter the apartment where with esteemed 
friends and a beloved family you have been accustomed 
to spend the social hour. Beside the farthermost wall of 
that apartment, fix your eyes upon the concealed form of 
one whom conjugal and paternal fidelity the day previ- 
ous had employed in the active duties of life. Approach, 
withdraw the covering which conceals the well-known 
features of your friend, still unchanged, and perfect in 
their form, save that the eye has gathered dimness, and 
closed itself upon the world forever, and the livid hue has 
given place to a death-like paleness. With the disclosure 
of those familiar features, listen to the sobs of the new 
made widow and orphan children. Witness the deep 
and irrepressible agony of a bereaved heart, venting it- 
self in a flood of tears, and the sympathies of your 
nature will be awakened and you will heave an involun- 
tary sigh, and drop a spontaneous tear. 



APPENDIX. 239 

This element of our nature is an endowment of crea- 
tive wisdom and goodness; it subserves valuable pur- 
poses and aids in the performance of essential duties; 
it is adapted to the social nature of man, and is promo- 
tive of the social virtues; it awakens in the different 
members of the human family a reciprocal interest in 
each other's welfare, chastened by pure religion; it " re- 
joices with those who rejoice, and weeps with those who 
weep;" it fosters kindness, generosity and benevolence, 
but is pained to witness suffering in any form, and un- 
happy as it listens to the tale of war; it is aroused into 
vigorous action by unexpected and disastrous events, by 
which aggravated suffering is produced, and the lives of 
our fellow beings lost. The text expresses its language 
on such an occasion. In the fortunes of war David's son 
had fallen, and though the circumstances of his rebellion 
and his death were such as would seem to destroy the 
exercise of sympathy, yet the event has fully proven that 
the parental relation rises superior to all others; for as 
the men of Judah marched out of the gate of the city of 
Mahamin, in companies of hundreds and of thousands, 
led by their Commander Joab, David stood by the gate 
and said, "Deal gently with the young man, even with 
Absalom." And all the people heard when the King gave 
all the captains charge concerning Absalom. How strong 
is the bond of parental affection ! David, by the skill 
and valor of his troops, had gained a complete victory ; 
nothing could be more seasonable or important. It 
crushed the wide-spread rebellion and reduced his sub- 
jects to allegiance. But behold the King ! All suspense, 
sitting between the two gates waiting for intelligence. 
Two messengers run to announce the victory. The first 
said " all is well." Which was saying the victory is ours ! 
our foes are subdued ! That was very important. But 



240 APPENDIX. 

another inquiry lying deep down in his anxious spirit, 
breaks forth from his lips. " Is the young man Absalom 
safe ?" This was a question too great for the moral cour- 
age of the messenger, and he evades it. 

The second messenger has now arrived. "Tidings, 
my Lord, the King, for the Lord hath avenged thee this 
day of all them that rose up against thee." But his heart 
is still bursting with anxiety for a reply to his unanswered 
question, hence he repeats it. " Is the young man Ab- 
salom safe?" And Cushi said, "The enemies of my 
Lord, the King, and all that rise against thee to do thee 
hurt, be as that young man is." Nothing could have 
been more wise or delicate than the manner in which the 
truth was insinuated ! But like a sword, it pierced 
through David's soul and the King was much moved, 
and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept; 
and as he went, thus he said, " O my son Absalom ! My 
son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee. 
O Absalom, my son, my son ! " 

David stood in a double relation; he was not only a 
King, but a father; and though Absalom had been an un- 
dutiful child, still he was a child; and for a child to be 
cut off, not only in the midst of his days, but in the midst 
of his sins, was painful in the extreme. Excuse or con- 
demn David for his conduct on this occasion, the event 
is the same; " And the victory that day was turned into 
mourning unto all the people." 

Secondly — this is true, to a certain extent, of every 
national victory. When two large armies are drawn up 
in battle array, with all their improved appliances of death 
and slaughter, to use the language of Scripture, "The 
land mourns." Fields are ravaged, fences destroyed, 
houses demolished, women and children fly. Mournful 
is the infliction of pain, while thousands are agonizing 



APPENDIX. 241 

together upon the gory field, where they often lie for 
hours or even days, with their wounds undressed and 
bleeding, exposed to the martial tramp of an infuriated 
foe. Mournful is the loss of limbs. How we feel when 
a neighbor by disease or accident, is compelled to submit 
to a single amputation. How many subjects for amputa- 
tion are furnished by a single victory ! How many, after 
enduring the most excruciating sufferings, are maimed 
and rendered helpless and miserable the remainder of 
their days. Mournful is the loss of life, for wher: is the 
human being who is not of importance to some one? 
How many a poor widow, whose name will never be an- 
nounced in the public papers, is now weeping over a hus- 
band she will see no more ! How many an orphan is 
now crying " My father ! O my father ! " but that father 
sleeps on the gory field of death, and will never again 
caress the loved ones he has left behind. O, how many 
fathers are this day saying, " Would God I had died for 
thee, O my son ! " 

Mournful, above all, is the loss of souls ! We are far 
from supposing that all warfare is unlawful, and that a 
good man cannot be a soldier. Who has not read the 
life of Colonel Gardiner, slain in battle at Prestonpans ? 
Was there ever a mind more purely and ardently pious? 
A man may ascend to heaven from the field of battle, but 
the moral state of our armies is too well known to be a 
secret ! At any time the generality of those who com- 
pose them are not prepared to die. How dreadfully af- 
fecting then, is it, to think of so many of our fellow 
creatures being cut off in a moment, and sent with all 
their sins upon them, to appear before the Judge of all? 
So many ways is victory turned into mourning. 

Memorable in the annals of history will be the victory 
at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Who can deny that its 



242 APPENDIX. 

unexampled suffering has spread a gloom over our whole 
country, and excited a deep and heartfelt sympathy for 
the unfortunate victims and their bereaved friends ? 
By it, the hearts of many parents, brothers, sisters, 
companions and friends, have been filled with sadness. 
Religious, literary, and other associations have sustained 
a severe loss; and neighborhoods, towns, and the country 
at large, have been bereaved. The scenes of that event 
have made a thrilling appeal to the sympathies of this 
community. 

They have shrouded in mourning a respected family 
in our midst, and to them cast a fearful pall over the joys 
of earth. They have removed forever from our sight an 
acquaintance and esteemed friend, whose early years 
were passed among us; who had often been a worshipper 
in this sanctuary; whose voice has often mingled with 
this choir, in the praise of God; one whose excellent 
qualities had secured for him the confidence and warm 
attachment of friends and relatives, and the respect of all 
who knew him. 

Yes, among the thousands who fell upon that field of 
slaughter and death was Lieutenant-Colonel George Ar- 
rowsmith. By this afflictive and painful dispensation, 
not only have relatives been bereaved, but an extensive 
circle of acquaintances, who valued his friendship, en- 
joyed his society, respected his worth and entertained 
high expectations of his future usefulness, have been 
filled with unaffected sorrow. This affliction addresses it- 
self to all who have been personal friends of the deceased. 
Strong are the ties of affection and friendship. From the 
stroke that sunders those ties, the heart recoils in untold 
agony. We hear of the death of an acquaintance and are 
sad. But when we know that a friend whom we loved 
and esteemed, and whose society and counsels we highly 



APPENDIX. 243 

prized, is no more, a tide of sorrow o'erflows our hearts; 
but most of all, are we affected by being relatives of the 
deceased. The common parent of mankind has estab- 
lished the endearing relation of kindred, from which 
spring the warmest, deepest and purest affections known 
on earth. Others have their attachments, but not like 
those who are bound together by the strong ties of con- 
sanguinity. The distress occasioned to survivors by 
the stroke of death is proportionate to the strength and 
ardor of their affections ! We, who are only acquaint- 
ances of the departed, are filled with sadness at the tid- 
ings of his melancholy fate, but of the sorrows of his af- 
flicted and bereaved relatives, parents, brothers and sis- 
ters, we can have no adequate conception. The depths of 
their hearts are stirred; the fountains of their sympathies 
are broken up. 

Among the most endearing relations of human life is 
that of parent and child; their affections are reciprocal; 
that of a parent, for wise purposes, is doubtless the 
stronger. The child weeps at the loss of the parent, but 
at the loss of the child the parent is filled with irrepressi- 
ble and oftentimes inconsolable grief. The general in- 
fanticide in Bethlehem, which occurred under the reign of 
Herod, is symbolically represented by a paroxysm of ma- 
ternal anguish; in Rama there was heard a loud lamenta- 
tion and weeping and great mourning; when the patriarch 
Jacob felt the sadness of such a bereavement, in vain did 
his sons rise up to comfort him. He refused to be com- 
forted and said, " I will go down to the grave to my son 
in mourning." The poignancy of grief with which King 
David mourned for an undutiful son, who died in an at- 
tempt against his father's life, we have already mentioned. 
I will not mock the feelings of bereaved parents and rel- 
atives by attempting to give a description of their sor- 



244 APPENDIX. 

rows. Should I make the attempt, the most expressive 
language I could employ, would do injustice to my 
theme. These sorrows can be known only to the Om- 
nipresent God, and the hearts that feel them. 

Again the agreeableness of departed friends is another 
circumstance which heightens the pain of bereavement. 
One reason of David's distress at the death of his friend 
Jonathan, is expressed in the words, "Very pleasant 
hast thou been to me." Valuable and agreeable qualities 
in our friends, endear them to our hearts and render 
our separation more painful. Those who were acquainted 
with the departed know him to have been a kind friend 
and an agreeable associate ; possessed of more than ordi- 
nary natural abilities, a highly cultivated mind united 
with his practical good sense, acute discernment, sound 
judgment, and Christian morality. These, like a beau- 
tiful constellation, shed their mild radiance around and 
won for him the respect and love of a wide circle of 
friends and acquaintances, who had indulged the hope 
that his future might be honorable, happy and exten- 
sively useful to his fellow men. 

No more on the shores of time we shall meet our friend. 
We have often met him and exchanged our cordial greet- 
ings, we have loved his society, valued his friendship; 
but never again shall we enjoy them here. For the last 
time has he visited his native home! We sympathize 
with the Elders and Christians at Ephesus, who wept 
and fell on Paul's neck, sorrowing most of all for the 
words which he spake unto them ! That they should see 
his face no more ! 

Lamented friend and brother, thine earthly race is 
run. Thy mortal course is finished. Thy sun has fallen 
before it reached its meridian altitude. Thy warfare is 
accomplished. Thy tears are wiped away. Thou hast 



APPENDIX. 345 

entered that world where wars shall never come, and 
" Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary 
are at rest." We bid thee farewell ! But thy memory 
embalmed in the tears and affections of weeping kindred 
and sorrowing friends shall still live. 

To soothe the sorrows of this mournful event let us re- 
flect: First— that it occurred under the immediate super- 
vision of an All Wise Providence. Jehovah sits at the 
helm of the universe, controlling all its vast affairs in 
infinite wisdom and benevolence. He is able to bring 
good out of evil. He causeth the wrath of man to praise 
Him, and the remainder He restrains. He extends His 
care and providence to the minutest particulars affecting 
our interest. " Even the hairs of our head are all num- 
bered," and " Not a sparrow falleth to the ground with- 
out His notice." Much less did this event occur without 
His knowledge and permission. The human agency may 
have been exceedingly culpable, as in the Saviour's cruci- 
fixion, yet the Almighty Ruler of the world has ordained 
it in His beneficence and love. We call this an untimely 
death. True, it was death in the morning of life, yet it 
is timely ! The time and mode are of Divine selection. 
The Great Shepherd of Israel, at the time and in the way 
He sees fit, calls His sheep away from earthly storms and 
tempests, to His glorious fold on high. W T hy should we 
repine? He hath done all things well. 

Second— Although we would neither eulogize the dead, 
nor anticipate the decisions of the final day, yet may 
we not cherish and express the humble hope that our 
friend died a Christian ? A subject of experimental and 
practical Godliness? If so, his eulogy is written in the 
word of God. " Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord 
from hence forth. Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest 



246 APPENDIX. 

from their labor, and their works do follow them." " Say 
ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him." 

For twenty-six days has his ransomed spirit been an 
associate of angels, and the "Spirits of the just made 
perfect," in rendering ascriptions of praise to our incar- 
nate, yet Crucified Redeemer, in far more exalted strains 
than mortals ever knew; while the unspeakable glories 
of the heavenly world have been unfolding to his enrap- 
tured vision. How the laurels of earth wither to the eyes 
of such a company! Could we hold intercourse with the 
eternal world, a whisper from the spirit land would 
say to us, " Weep not for me." " The Saviour has passed 
through the portals before me, and the lamp of His love 
was my guide through the gloom." 

Third — It shows us the supreme value of religion. How 
plainly are we taught the vanity of all earthly good! 
How loudly admonished to seek a heavenly treasure! 
Nay, were the sea one crysolite, the earth one golden 
ball, and diamonds all the stars of night, religion is 
worth them all. In loudest accents this Providence 
warns us to be in constant readiness to meet death. It 
is a direct appeal to all who are unfurnished and unpre- 
pared for the coming world. With strong emphasis, it 
rebukes the spirit of procrastination, by which some 
would put off the concerns of the soul. To the afflicted 
family I would say, tender and endearing were the rela- 
tions you sustained to the deceased. You had given him 
a large place in the affections of your hearts. He was 
worth all that you bestowed upon him. By his sudden 
and appalling death you are filled with grief and mourn- 
ing. To feel the ties of nature sundered, is painful in the 
extreme. Your happy circle is broken. Your ranks are 
invaded, and some of you feel that earth is stripped of 
its joy. In your present affliction, receive our sympathies. 



APPENDIX. 247 

We mingle our tears with yours. The great Physician 
can heal your broken bones and bind up your bleeding 
hearts. To Him we commend you. Let faith lift her 
eye to the resurrection of the just, where you may be en- 
abled to say to the Master, " Here am I, and the children 
which Thou hast given me." God grant you resigna- 
tion to His holy will. 



NOTE B. 

HAMILTON VOLUNTEER AID ASSOCIATION, CORRESPONDENCE 
OF "THE REPUBLICAN." 

The ladies of Hamilton met on Friday evening, May 
31st, at the house of Mr. Adon Smith, to form themselves 
into an organization for the purpose of providing com- 
forts for the volunteers sent from Hamilton and adjoin- 
ing towns to fight for the Stars and Stripes. The notice 
not having been generally extended, the number present 
was not as large as desirable, but those present were 
earnest to be at work. Mrs. M. S. Piatt was made chair- 
man and the society organized under the name of the 
"Hamilton Volunteer Aid Association." Mrs. Charles 
Mason was unanimously elected president ; Mrs. A. M. 
Bee'be, vice-president ; Miss Annette Foote, treasurer ; 
and Miss D. W. Waters, secretary. It was resolved, 
after a discussion of the needs of the soldiers, to appro- 
priate the funds first collected to the procuring of have- 
locks for Company D. It was further resolved, that the 
ladies of adjoining towns be invited to join the associa- 
tion and cooperate with the ladies of Hamilton. The fol- 
lowing officers were then chosen : As soliciting commit- 
tee, Mrs. G. W. Eaton, Mrs. Lewis Wickwire ; for have- 
locks, Mrs. Bancroft, Miss Mary Manchester, Mrs. Wells 



24« APPENDIX. 

Russell ; for sponge cases and towels, Mrs. John J. Foote, 
Mrs. M. Harmon; for sewing kits, Miss M. A. Hastings, 
Miss V. M. Case; for miscellaneous articles, Mrs. Frank 
Bonney, Miss C. Hyde. Mrs. Mason then read some pro- 
ceedings of the Chenango Volunteer Association, and an 
interesting letter from Captain Arrowsmith, acknowledg- 
ing the receipt of the provisions and clothing lately sent 
the volunteers. Mr. Miner kindly offered his parlors as 
a place of meeting, and the association adjourned to meet 
at the Wick wire House on Thursday, June 6th, at two 
o'clock, p. m., for the purpose of working for the volun- 
teers, and making plans for future operations. 



NOTE C. 

War Department, Washington, August 19th, 1862. 
Sir: 

You are hereby informed that the President of the 
United States has appointed you Assistant Adjutant-Gen- 
eral of Volunteers, with the rank of Captain, in the serv- 
ice of the United States, to rank as such from the nine- 
teenth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-two. Should the Senate, at their next session, ad- 
vise and consent thereto, you will be commissioned ac- 
cordingly. 

Immediately on receipt hereof, please to communicate 
to this Department, through the Adjutant-General's office, 
your acceptance or non-acceptance of said appointment ; 
and, with your letter of acceptance, return to the Adju- 
tant-General of the Army the oath herewith enclosed, 
properly rilled up, subscribed and attested, reporting at 
the same time your age, residence when appointed, and 
the state in which you were born. 



APPENDIX. 249 

Should you accept, you will at once report, in person, 
for orders, to Brigadier-General Z. B. Tower, U. S. Vol- 
unteers. 

EDWIN M. STANTON, 

■ Secretary of War. 

Captain George Arrowsmith, 

Asst. Adjt. Gen/. Vols. 

NOTE D. 

Extract from a letter of Hon. Charles Mason, L. L. D., 
of the Supreme Court of New York, to Thomas Arrow- 
smith, Esq., dated December 30th, 1863. 

"You will pardon me in saying that the death of your 
son George was to me and my family the severest casu- 
alty of this terrible war. He was possessed of a noble and 
generous spirit, brave in danger, cool and composed in 
the midst of battle. He held most unbounded control 
over his men. This was so whether in camp or field, he 
always possessed their confidence and esteem. He was 
a remarkably good judge of human nature for one so 
young as he was, and would assuredly have acquired 
distinction in his chosen profession had he not gone into 
the army. I remonstrated against his going at the time 
he first enlisted, but he said he was already pledged to 
lead the company then in process of formation and he 
could not back down. 

" I was one who went to Albany and presented to Gov- 
ernor Morgan an application for his appointment as Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel. The high commendation he received 
from officers of the army with whom he was associated in 
battle, as to his ability and military capacity to command 
either a regiment or brigade, induced the Governor to 
appoint him over other meritorious applicants for the 



250 APPENDIX. 

position. He should have been appointed the Colonel, 
and so Governor Morgan said, but George was in the field 
and the regiment was half filled, and they must have a 
Colonel then." 

NOTE E. 

This conversation was told to the writer by Surgeon 
H. C. Hendrick of McGrawville, New York. 

NOTE F. 

These incidents were related to the writer by Captain 
G. T. VanHoesen of Cortland, New York, who served in 
the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment, New 
York State Volunteers, at Gettysburg. 

NOTE G. 

These figures are from official reports, and include a 
loss sustained by the remnant of the regiment in a fight 
on Culp's Hill, the evening of the second day's battle at 
Gettysburg. 

NOTE H. 

MEETING OF THE BRIGADE BOARD. FROM THE "MONMOUTH 
DEMOCRAT." 

The Brigade Board of the Monmouth and Ocean Bri- 
gade met at the court-house in Freehold on Monday last 
at ten o'clock, a. m., and was called to order by General 
llaight. 

Present, Brigadier-General Haight, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Green, Major Corlies, Major Green, Major Yard, Captain 
Forman, Captain Conover, Captain Hyer. 

Captain Forman desired to call the attention of the 



APPENDIX. 251 

Board to the death of Lieutenant-Colonel George Arrow- 
smith, of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New York 
Volunteers, a native of this county and a son of Major 
Thomas Arrowsmith, who was killed while gallantly 
leading his regiment on the outskirts of the town of Get- 
tysburg during the recent battle at that place. Captain 
Forman pronounced a high eulogy on the character of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Arrowsmith. He said there are few 
who leave a nobler record. While acting as Assistant 
Adjutant-General at Second Bull Run his name was 
brought permanently before the country. He deemed it 
proper for the Board to take some action in the matter 
expressive of their sentiments and to perpetuate the 
memory of the gallant dead. 

Major Corlies moved that a committee of three be ap- 
pointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sentiment of 
the board, relative to the death of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Arrowsmith, which was adopted, and General Haight, 
Major Conover and Captain Forman were appointed said 
committee. 

The following resolutions in relation to the death of the 
above-named gallant young officer were reported by the 
committee and adopted : 

Whereas, The Brigade Board of the Monmouth and 
Ocean Brigade, New Jersey Militia, have learned with 
deep regret that Lieutenant-Colonel George Arrow- 
smith, of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New 
York Volunteers, was killed while gallantly leading his 
regiment in the sanguinary conflict at Gettysburg on 
the third of July, in his efforts to expel the rebel 
armed force from the soil of Pennsylvania, and in de- 
fense of constitutional liberty; therefore, 
Resolved, That we bow with contrite hearts to this dis- 



352 APPENDIX. 

position of an overruling Providence, who in this sad af- 
fliction has again sent a solemn admonition to warn us 
that in the midst of life we are in death; 

Resolved, That we recognize in the short and brilliant 
career of Colonel Arrowsmith his patriotic endeavors to 
restore to its wonted peace and unity our distracted and 
unhappy country. Second Bull Run testifies to his ac- 
tivity in movement — his vigilance and reliability in dan- 
ger ; Chancellorsville furnishes the indisputable evidence 
of the living purpose that directed his movements, and 
the unconquerable spirit that enabled him to undergo 
the hardships and fatigues of battle; while Gettysburg 
proves unflinching courage and determined bravery, 
from the active part he took in the drama enacted there. 

Resolved, That in the death we are called upon to 
mourn, the military arm of the country has lost the serv- 
ices of a brave and accomplished officer, the cause of 
constitutional government a bold and determined defend- 
er, one who was willing to shed his blood in its defense; 

Resolved, That this Board deeply sympathize with the 
aged and esteemed parents and afflicted family of the de- 
ceased in their bereavement, and as an evidence of re- 
spect for the memory of the noble dead, this Board will 
attend his funeral in the Baptist church in the village of 
Middletown on Sunday, the nineteenth inst., at three 

P. M. 

Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be sent to the 
family of the deceased and published in the county 
papers. Signed, 

CHARLES HAIGHT, 
FRANCIS CORLIES, 
WILLIAM B. FORMAN, 

Committee. 



APPENDIX. 253 

NOTE I. 

THE LATE LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARROWSM1TH. 

The class of '59 of Madison University met at Ham- 
ilton, New York, the day and date hereafter given, and 
had its first reunion while attending the commencement 
of its Alma Mater, at which time the following preamble 
and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
Whereas, our beloved classmate, George Arrowsmith, 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty- 
seventh, New York State Volunteers, fell at Gettysburg 
July 3d, 1863, while nobly leading his regiment against 
the enemy; and 
Whereas, the occasion of our first class reunion affords 
us the first opportunity of expressing our estimate alike 
of himself and of his early and noble fate; therefore 
Resolved, That as a class we feel ourselves to have been 
peculiarly honored by the voluntary offering upon the 
nation's altar of a life so precious and valuable. While 
we miss him to-day, not as we do others, who, though 
absent, still live and work on earth, but as one we shall 
see here no more, we yet experience a mournful pleasure 
in transferring his name from the list of living class- 
mates to that immortal scroll on which are inscribed the 
names of those who have laid down their lives for Liber- 
ty, God and their country; 

Resolved, That in the sacrifice of his life, our class has 
lost one who united with distinguished originality of 
mind, a heart generous in its impulses, tenacious in its 
friendships and courageous in its instincts, all which 
invested him with the surest promises of success in what- 
ever profession of life he might have chosen; 

Resolved, That while we embalm his memory in our 
hearts' most sacred place, deeply conscious of our irre- 



254 APPENDIX. 

parable loss, we yet regard his identification with the 
cause of the nation in its second great struggle for na- 
tionality, and his subsequent death, as acts performed in 
our behalf, and we embrace this occasion to reassert our 
devotion to our country, and bind ourselves more closely 
upon the altar whereon his fresh young manhood was so 
heroically sacrificed, assured that he died not in vain, and 
that all familiar with his career must be stimulated to 
like noble endeavors; 

Resolved, That in this first sundering of the golden 
chain of our class relations we are not unmindful of the 
desolation which has fallen upon his endeared home and 
parents, and that we hereby avail ourselves of the first 
opportunity given us as a class to tender the bereaved 
home circle of our lamented classmate our profound and 
heartfelt sympathy in this painful and sad bereavement; 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be given to 
the parents of the deceased, and that the same be pub- 
lished in the Hamilton Republican, the Utica Morning 
/derail and the New Jersey Standard. 

GEORGE M. STONE, 
ENOS CLARKE, 
Committee on Resolutions. 

Hamilton, August rytk, 1S6?. 



Errata ♦ 

Page 96, line 6 from "bottom, for "base" 
read bass. 

Page 121, line 6, for "1862" read 1863. 
Tliis letter and the letter tkat follows, 
should come after letter of December 
30, 1862, on page 187. 

Page 251, line 11, for "permanently" 
read prominently. 



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